


The Reason

by vonbluen



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Because SugaTen, Everyone's gay, Fandom Trash, Fluff, Fujoshi trash, Gay Volleyball dorks, He'll get better I promise, High School AU, Hinata Shouyou is a Dork, Hinata is bullied, I'm sorry about Tendou, M/M, Nerd!Hinata, Popular!Tsukki, Porn With Plot, SO MUCH FLUFF, Tsukki is kind but he doesn't want to show it, YES THEY STILL PLAY VOLLEBALL, all of them are dorks, don't hate me, i still love him, rarepair hell, volleyball dorks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2018-09-08 23:03:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 65,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8866882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vonbluen/pseuds/vonbluen
Summary: Everyone thought Hinata was just that high school nerd wanting to survive high school despite being beaten and made fun of. 
Including the popular Tsukishima Kei. 
But it all changed after a trip to the infirmary and seeing Hinata dare to fly in the court of air battles.





	1. The Infirmary

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wanted this to be a sweet college au where tsukki and sho cast not-so-subtle glances at each other (inspired by When You Say Nothing At All by Ronan Keating idk it just came i guess??) but then my fingers typed on their own and then it turned into THIS! I have the plot more or less planned out in my head (which is to say I have no idea what's going to happen next I'm just gonna go with the flow lol) 
> 
> Soooo enjoy!

### Chapter 1

#### The Infirmary

Tsukishima watched the scene unfold before him indifferently while the people around visibly flinched at how Tendou planted his foot harshly on a certain ginger’s stomach, shoving him against the lockers. Tendou smirked as he watched Hinata grimace in pain.

“That should teach you not to get in our way ever, loser,” Tendou snapped at the boy and let him go but not before kicking him again once.

Tsukishima put his hands in his pockets and frowned at Tendou. “Hurry up, idiot. I’m hungry,” he told Tendou and began to walk away, not bothering to spare the battered boy a second glance.

He didn’t really care. Tendou can do whatever he wanted with that boy. All that mattered was food at the moment.

Tendou gave the ginger a glare before running to catch up to the tall blond known as Tsukishima Kei.

“Stupid nerd…” Tsukishima heard Tendou mutter under his breath.

The blond sighed. “You shouldn’t really waste your time on that kid,” he chastised.

Tendou smirked and folded his arms behind his head. “Well beating him up is fun,” Tendou replied bluntly, “Worthless piece of shit.”

Tsukishima sighed again as they walked inside the cafeteria buzzing with students divided into different factions. Tsukishima and Tendou grabbed their food and sat on the so-called popular table. Yui turned towards Tendou and smacked him upside the head.

“You made me wait! For what? Some nerd you take pride in beating up?” Yui scolded the redhead, who was now shrinking under his girlfriend’s scrutinizing gaze.

“Yui-chan that hurts!” Tendou complained, trying to look cute in front of his girlfriend but Yui was having none of it. She narrowed her eyes at him before turning to Misaki to talk about the latest episode of, what was that show they were watching? _Teen Wolf?_

Tsukishima didn’t know, and didn’t care. He continued to munch on his fries until a certain brunet walked into the cafeteria, causing some sort of commotion. Again. Tsukishima scoffed. Why were girls so obsessed with him anyway? He’ll never know.

“Ow, Iwa-chan! You’re so mean!” The said brunette wailed. Contrary to popular belief, Oikawa is the biggest idiot he’d ever gotten to meet. He’s annoying, noisy, loud and unbelievably childish. God only knows how Iwaizumi was able to stand him up to now.

Oikawa planted his butt beside Tsukishima and slung his arm lazily on his shoulder causing the tall brooding male to sigh in exasperation. _Somebody kill it with fire_ , Tsukishima inwardly begs.

“Hello Tsukki!” Oikawa cooed.

“Fuck off,” was Tsukishima’s kind reply. Oikawa pouted. “Mean!”

“Gods, Shittykawa. Can’t you see he doesn’t want you to exist at the moment? Piss off before he decides to kill you. It’d be too troublesome to dispose of your dead body,” Kuroo spoke and sat on a chair across Tsukishima.

Why did he decide to hang out with these people again? Oh wait, he didn’t. Society simply decided for him. Fuck society.

“Not you too, Tetsu-chan!” Oikawa fake cried on Tsukishima’s shoulder, of all places. Tsukishima grabbed Oikawa’s face and pushed him away from him. “You’re annoying.”

Oikawa only grinned at the blond. “No, you love me.”

Tsukishima scrunched up his eyebrows and gave him a look of disgust. “Who would ever want you?”

Oikawa chuckled and gestured to his surroundings. “Look around, Tsukki. _Everyone_ wants me. Even Iwa-chan!” Oikawa beamed at the dark-haired male who was now shooting him daggers, “Right, Iwa-chan?”

“I’d rather die,” Iwaizumi deadpanned.

“Mean!”

“Kuroko, my man!” He heard Kuroo greet loudly, “I heard you signed up for the basketball team.”

“I did,” Kuroko replied.

“How’d it go?”

“Good.”

“Found any good people?”

“Yes.”

Everybody sweatdropped at Kuroko’s lack of interest to converse.

“Speaking of teams, aren’t you also signing up for the volleyball team?” Iwaizumi asked Kuroo.

Kuroo grinned cheerfully at Iwaizumi. “Yep! And their manager’s cute!”

Volleyball, huh?

“Did somebody just say volleyball?” Tendou exclaimed.

Tsukishima inwardly groaned. _Here we go again…_

“Did you know, when I was, like, 7 I was chosen to be…” Tendou started to rant.

This is going to be a long day.

***

Tsukishima sat on his usual seat in Pre-calculus and plugged in his headphones, the soft melody of The Reason by Hoobastank filling his ears.

A boy with orange hair that was neatly gelled back and thick-rimmed glasses walked past him, sporting a bruise on the cheek and a busted lip.

 _Must be Tendou’s doing_.

Tsukishima knew that was the boy his friends (other than Kuroo, Iwaizumi and Oikawa because they don’t really give a shit) would always beat up. He somehow understood why. Typical high school scenario where the fortunate people blessed with good looks and cursed with a shitty attitude stomp all over the unfortunate people cursed with looks that the society disapproves of and blessed with angelic attitudes.

Not that he was siding with the nerdy boy or something. It’s not that he hated him either.

He simply didn’t care.

Tsukishima removed his headphones when the teacher walked in and got started with the class.

Halfway through the class, Mr. Brunner called out some people to answer the problems on the board. Tsukishima tried so hard to avoid Mr. Brunner’s eyes and pretended to take notes even though he was just writing nonsense on his notebook.

Tsukishima knew how to solve it. It was just the Chain Rule. He just didn’t want to do it.

“Ah yes, Hinata. Go on then,” the teacher called and Tsukishima could practically hear the entire class sigh in relief.

Hinata made his way in front but suddenly stopped and clutched his head, as if in pain.

“Hinata, are you okay?” Mr. Brunner asked, concerned. He was just clutching his head in pain and you ask him if he was okay? Tsukishima rolled his eyes inwardly.

“Y…Yeah. I’m fine, Mr. Brunner,” Hinata reassured him and stood straight.

Tsukishima saw his strained smile and immediately knew that he wasn’t okay.

“What an attention-seeker,” he heard a boy hiss from behind him, “Tendou didn’t hit him too hard. He’s just being dramatic to get attention and get everyone to side with him.”

It didn’t seem that way to Tsukishima. Idiots, the lot of them.

“He’s such a show-off, too. Who the fuck cares if he can solve a damn math problem?”

“I know right. Stupid, wanna-be,”

“Served him right. He deserved that good beating from Tendou.”

Tsukishima clenched his fists. Such judgmental bastards.

He took a deep breath. He didn’t care.

He didn’t _care_.

Tsukishima snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Mr. Brunner speak up.

“Hinata, are you sure you’re okay? That’s it, you’re going to the nurse just to make sure,” Mr. Brunner looked around the class, “Tsukishima, can you please take him to the infirmary?”

_I don’t know, can I?_

Tsukishima sighed and stood up after grabbing his bag. “Sure.”

Hinata looked at him in terror. Of course Hinata knew Tsukishima was with the guy who just beat him senseless. He was there after all, watching as Tendou threw punch after punch and kick after kick.

“M…Mr. Brunner, I’m okay, really. Tsukishima-san doesn’t have to take me there,” Hinata protested politely.

“No, we’re taking you to the nurse. That bruise is already enough reason as it is,” Mr. Brunner looked at Tsukishima, “Go.”

Hinata wordlessly obliged and walked out the door with Tsukishima in tow.

It was an awkward journey towards the clinic so when they finally got there, Hinata let out a huge breath. He walked in and greeted the nurse.

“Hinata? I just patched you up. Did someone beat you again?” the nurse kindly asked him.

“No. I got dizzy in the middle of class so Mr. Brunner got concerned,” Hinata replied, sitting on the bed.

The nurse chuckled. “Typical Mr. Brunner.”

The nurse examined Hinata and smiled at him. “You’re just tired. Judging from the way you look minus the bruises, you probably slept really late. Seriously Hinata, you look like a zombie. Just take a rest. I’ll take care of everything else.” The nurse looked at Tsukishima and gave him a kind smile. “You must be a friend of Hinata.”

“That’s Tsukishima-san,” Hinata introduced.

“Mr. Brunner just asked me to take him here. We’re not really close,” Tsukishima bluntly replied. The nurse nodded slowly, giving Tsukishima an odd look.

“Well okay then,” she turned to Hinata who was now lying on the bed, “I’m sorry but I have some stuff to take care of for Mr. Eaton. I won’t be back ‘til later. Tsukishima-kun will have to look after you just until you fall asleep. Is that okay, Tsukishima-kun?”

Tsukishima nodded after a few moments of hesitation.

“Great! I’ll be off now. Get well soon Hinata.”

So that’s how the two got stuck with each other in a room surrounded by awkward silence. Hinata sighed and rubbed his cheek. “If you want to finish what Tendou-san started just get it over with. I know how much you’re itching to beat me up,” he said.

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow at the carrot head. “You think I’d even bother?”

Hinata rolled his eyes at the blond. “Right. Of course. I’m just a filthy commoner compared to you after all,” he snapped.

Tsukishima looked at the smaller boy exasperatedly. “Just go to sleep,” he said. Hinata crossed his arms stubbornly and frowned. “I’m not tired.”

“The nurse said you are.”

“Well I’m not,” Hinata shot back.

“You know I expected you to be really quiet and submissive. Turns out you’re such a pain in the ass to deal with,” Tsukishima pointed out, sitting on the bed beside the one Hinata was lying on.

“Well suck it up. You can just leave if you want. I don’t need your company,” Hinata told the blond and rolled his eyes again.

“I could just punch you right now and get this over with,” Tsukishima deadpanned. 

Hinata looked at Tsukishima and smirked. “Oh? You said you wouldn’t bother? I wouldn’t be surprised if you do punch me though. You are, after all, just some brainless popular idiot always fishing for attention,” Hinata went on, “What? Mommy and daddy too busy to take you to the amusement park? Poor, poor you.”

Tsukishima clenched his fists at Hinata’s words. His patience was running thin.

“Your parents probably sent you birthday gifts through the mail alllll the way from France, don’t they? And you’d be in your room, alone and miserable, singing happy birthday to yourself. Poor, poor Tsukishima Kei.”

“What? Can’t stand me already? I wouldn’t be surprised. You’re probably used to everyone treating you like a goddamn king. The people taking care of you are probably scared you’d lash out at them if they so much as leave a speck of dust in your room.”

“You don’t understand other people and you never will. Because all you think about is yours-“

Hinata was cut off by Tsukishima lunging at him and pinning his arms above his head on the infirmary bed.

“Shut. Up.” Tsukishima growled, glaring daggers at the boy below him. It seemed like forever when Tsukishima stared at Hinata’s wide eyes. Those pools of honey brown with specks of gold that seemed like they were spinning lazily, obscured by the think-rimmed glasses Hinata was wearing and those soft pink lips that were damaged by Tendou. For a split second, Tsukishima wanted to run his thumb softly across Hinata’s lower lip where a red line cut across it, wanting to punch Tendou for laying a hand on him.

Tsukishima inwardly cursed at himself and hardened his gaze at the orange-haired boy. Hinata’s expression morphed into a smirking one. “Hard to accept, Tsukishima?”

The fingers that were now pinning Hinata’s wrists to the beds were burning due to the contact. Tsukishima ignored the feeling and leaned closer to the boy. “You’d eat those words, Hinata,” Tsukishima whispered in his ear. Hinata only scoffed and rolled his eyes at the blond. “As if.”

Tsukishima couldn’t take it anymore and planted his lips softly on the skin just below Hinata’s right ear, his breath hot against his neck.

“Wh…What are you doing?” Hinata stuttered, trying to break free but Tsukishima’s grip on his wrists were tight enough to render his arms useless but way too gentle to actually hurt the smaller boy.

Tsukishima trailed soft kisses down Hinata’s neck and stopped on the place where his shoulder and neck met. He sucked on the skin there and went back to Hinata’s neck. Hinata squirmed from underneath Tsukishima but didn’t show any signs of disapproval so Tsukishima continued, still ready to jump back if Hinata said the word.

“Tsu…Tsukishima…”

Tsukishima’s lips went to Hinata’s jaw, leaving newly formed bruised on his neck. Tsukishima knew he should pull back before he’d do something Hinata wouldn’t like.

But then Hinata let out a low, drawn out moan when Tsukishima sucked on a particular part on his neck.

Needless to say, the sound all but travelled down to Tsukishima’s lower region.

 _Fuck_.

Tsukishima pulled back for a bit to look at Hinata whose eyes were now hooded, cheeks tinted red, and mouth slightly agape.

What a sight.

Tsukishima leaned in and timidly pressed his lips on Hinata’s. The smaller boy accepted him after a few seconds of hesitation and tangled his fingers in Tsukishima’s blonde locks. Tsukishima started moving his lips against Hinata and cupped his face. Hinata stilled for a moment before moving his own lips in sync with the blond. For a moment, their lips moved in perfect sync with each other. Tsukishima licked Hinata’s lower lip for entrance to which Hinata declined and made a move to pull back.

But Tsukishima wasn’t having it.

He thrusted his hips against Hinata’s once causing the smaller boy to gasp. Tsukishima took this opportunity to enter Hinata’s mouth and explored it with his tongue. He felt Hinata’s grip the back of his shirt then wrap his arms around the blond’s neck. Hinata didn’t even try to fight for dominance, much to Tsukishima’s joy. But then Hinata pulled back only to tug on Tsukishima’s lower lip and continued to kiss him hotly.

_Fuck that was… hot._

Tsukishima tilted his head to deepen the kiss and spread Hinata’s legs to place himself between them. Hinata unconsciously wrapped his legs around Tsukishima’s waist and willingly accepted the gesture. Tsukishima grunted and pulled back to remove his glasses as well as Hinata’s and placed them on the table beside the bed then went back to ravishing the smaller boy’s mouth. Tsukishima’s hands travelled from Hinata’s face to his shoulders then down to his hips.

Tsukishima felt his jeans getting painfully tight and started to rock against Hinata. Tsukishima was slightly surprised when he found out Hinata was also growing hard underneath him.

Hinata let out a low moan and fisted Tsukishima’s hair to which the blond responded with a sharp intake of breath. The bed creaked as Tsukishima found his rhythm, shamelessly rutting against Hinata’s crotch. Hinata pulled away to moan loudly, hands now clutching a handful of Tsukishima’s hair. The said blond didn’t mind. In fact, he found it quite hot.

“T…Tsukishima.. A..Ahh…”

Tsukishima bit his lower lip as he picked up the pace, dry humping the smaller boy beneath him.

“Stop…”

Tsukishima thought he was hearing things but then he heard it again.

“Tsukishima, stop…”

As soon as he heard the words Tsukishima automatically stopped and pulled back despite his now painful erection.

He looked at Hinata, panting. The orange-haired boy was biting his lip as if contemplating something. To Tsukishima’s surprise, Hinata pushed him down and reversed their position.

“What—“

He stopped midsentence when Hinata pulled his pants down together with his boxers and wrapped his lips around his tip.

“Fuck, Hinata…”

Hinata licked his cock from base to top before taking him into his mouth and sucked softly on the tip. Tsukishima gripped the bedsheets, the temptation to thrust up into Hinata’s face too hard to resist. Hinata circled his tongue around the tip and on the slit, hand pumping the area that wasn’t in his mouth. Tsukishima drew out a shaky breath and closed his eyes in ecstasy. Hinata’s mouth was perfect, hot and wet and everything he ever dreamed it to be and more. Hinata started bobbing his head up and down, pushing his cock further into his mouth. Tsukishima unconsciously thrusted up so Hinata held his hips in place.

“Hinata…”

Tsukishima let out a low moan and fisted the sheets.

Then Hinata took his entire dick into his mouth, deepthroating him.

Tsukishima lost it and let out a loud moan that reverberated around the walls of the infirmary. Hinata pulled back only to push his dick all the way to his throat. Tsukishima called Hinata’s name over and over again, adding a few colourful words here and there.

“Fuck… Hinata, Hinata, _Hinata_ …”

Hinata swallowed, the sensation causing Tsukishima to see stars. Hinata bobbed his head up and down, deepthroating the hell out of Tsukishima. The blond risked taking a look at the smaller boy and _moaned_ at the sight. His hands were holding down Tsukishima’s thighs, Tsukishima’s dick appearing in and out of Hinata’s pink lips, his cheeks tinted red and his ass pointed up in the air.

Tsukishima’s head dropped back down on the bed and moaned as his dick hit the back of Hinata’s throat again.

“Hinata… I’m gonna…”

Hinata didn’t care and continued to suck Tsukishima’s dick. Hinata moaned, the vibrations adding to the stimulation.

Then he came.

Hinata swallowed it all like a hungry wolf and pulled back from Tsukishima’s dick, the action letting out an erotic ‘pop’ sound. Hinata licked Tsukishima’s dick clean and looked up at the blond shyly but his honey brown eyes were glinting with mischief and smugness.

“By the gods, Hinata…” Tsukishima muttered, still in his post-orgasmic daze.

Hinata crawled up and dropped himself on top of Tsukishima.

Tsukishima felt Hinata’s erection and flipped them over. The blond felt his dick becoming hard again as scenarios played in his mind, mostly including Hinata bending over, Hinata perfectly laid out before him, Hinata on his arms and knees, Hinata’s legs hooked around his waist, Hinata’s arms pinned against the bed with Tsukishima ravishing him and Hinata moaning out Tsukishima’s name.

The blond gave the smaller boy a predatory grin.

Well, then.

***

Hinata looked up at the sky and replayed the scene in the infirmary in his mind. It was safe to say that Tsukishima was sure as hell good in bed. But that’s not what his mind was preoccupied about.

 _“Tsukishima_ please _,” Hinata practically begged, spreading his legs and giving himself to Tsukishima._

_Tsukishima’s eyes shifted from lustful and dominant to soft and gentle in a matter of seconds. He leaned in and kissed Hinata’s forehead softly. “Not here. Not like this,” he whispered against his forehead._

_Hinata’s eyes widened a bit and he felt himself almost tearing up. Not because the blond was rejecting him but because of the fact that the boy respected him even a little bit. Hinata smiled slightly at the boy above him._

_“Okay…”_

Of course Tsukishima satisfied him in different ways other than penetrative sex after that.

To be honest, he was still overwhelmed by the fact that Tsukishima Kei, one of the hottest and most popular guys in school, not to mention the most rude and tactless person he’d ever met, had gotten it off with him, of all people.

Hinata, quite possibly the most hideous person in school.

Hinata, the most boring person in school.

Hinata, the biggest nerd and the absolute loser of Karasuno High.

Hinata, the one people would look disgustedly at.

Hinata, the one people wouldn’t even dare to come close to unless it was for homework or just simply to beat him up and make his life miserable.

Hinata, the one who shamefully let himself get beaten by the bullies.

Just… Hinata.

Why did he do it? Hinata shouldn’t be surprised. The popular people do it all the time.

Hinata frowned. Yeah, but they usually go for those smoking hot or impossibly cute ones. Not a loser and an ugly-ass motherfucker like Hinata.

Tendou’s words, not his.

So why? Was it a dare?

Hinata’s eyes widened in realization.

_“Not here. Not like this.”_

Of course! Tsukishima was probably dared to turn him on or whatever because the moment Hinata laid himself out to Tsukishima, he immediately declined. So that’s what it was about!

But what about that gentle look in his eyes and that soft kiss on his forehead. If he didn’t want to fuck Hinata, then he would’ve rudely turned him down because, well, he’s _Tsukishima._

But he didn’t. Instead he kindly said no and even kissed him on the forehead, which people would interpret as an affectionate gesture.

Tsukishima being affectionate with Hinata?

Nah.

Maybe because he was probably still dazed from his orgasm.

That explains it. Most people become cuddly and way more affectionate during their afterglows. Maybe Tsukishima was one of those people.

Hinata groaned and ruffled his hair. Why did Mr. Brunner have to pick Tsukishima to accompany him to the infirmary? Why couldn’t it be Lev or something? Sure, Tsukishima was hot as hell. He has this hot nerd, mysterious boy aura around him. Why can’t Hinata be like Tsukishima? Tsukishima wore glasses and he was smart, that much was for certain but he still looks attractive as hell and girls practically worship the ground he walks on. Hinata wore glasses and even he would admit that he was smart but people slam him against lockers and play this fun game called Use-Hinata-As-A-Fucking-Punching-Bag.

Argh, he was so frustrated!

Hinata knew one thing though.

He was so _screwed_.


	2. Too Small

### Chapter 2

#### Too Small

 

Tsukishima was sitting in his usual seat in the cafeteria, just enjoying his fries and cheeseburger.

And dealing with the noisiest people he’d ever come to know.

“NO!! Iwa-chan that’s not how you do it!” Oikawa protested as he grabbed his phone from Iwaizumi’s hand and showed him how to properly play the game they’ve been obsessing over for days.

“Shittykawa, I don’t give two flying fucks about your stupid game. I don’t want to play so lay off will you? Shoo,” Iwaizumi pushed against Oikawa and turned towards Tsukishima who he obviously preferred at the moment because it seemed like he was the only normal person at the table.

“Rude!”

“I thought Akaashi was just some boring kid who’d very much prefer to warm the bench than actually playing. Turns out he was so badass the temperature in the gym rose for a moment,” He heard Nishinoya explain to Kuroo who was looking at the smaller male with utmost interest.

“Just shut up and eat your burger Yuu,” he heard a voice interject.

“You’re just jealous Semi,” Tsukishima could practically _hear_ Nishinoya stick his tongue out at Semi.

“Pfft no way,” Semi rolled his eyes at his boyfriend and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, “As if anyone could beat me when it comes to Yuu.”

“Oh god stop…” Nishinoya muttered.

“I trust Yuu so don’t Yuu worry,” Semi added.

“Semi, please.”

“What? Yuu actually thought I’d be stupid enough to get jealous over some dude Yuu just met?”

“Semi…” Nishinoya groaned.

Semi chuckled and wrapped his arm around Nishinoya’s waist and kissed the side of his head. Nishinoya blushed and tried to shove Semi away but the white-haired teen only smiled fondly at the wild boy.

“Hello, friends!” Misaki greeted as she flopped down on the seat next to Tsukishima.

“Misa-chan, Iwa-chan’s being mean!” Oikawa said, shaking poor Iwaizumi who was throwing colourful words at the noisy brunet.

“Iwaizumi, please keep being mean,” Misaki told Iwaizumi.

Iwaizumi grunted and pushed Oikawa for the umpteenth time today and bonked him on the head. “I said stop it, Shittykawa!”

Tsukishima sighed and brought out his phone.

No word from Hinata.

He plugged in his headphones. [Fix You](https://youtu.be/aK3TROzVRiE) (ctrl+left click on the link) by Coldplay filled his ears as his thoughts went back to what happened yesterday.

Right after they did the do (which Tsukishima may or may not have liked too much), Hinata fell asleep with Tsukishima’s arms wrapped safely around him. He felt absolutely contented with everything. All he focused on was Hinata’s slow breathing, Hinata’s warmth and _Hinata_. He wanted to lie down and never get up but then the fact that they were in the infirmary where anyone could walk in on them cuddling naked at any minute hit him like a brick. Reluctantly, he decided to let Hinata go.

_Eh maybe later._

Gods know how long later, after putting on Hinata’s clothes for him, Tsukishima left a note with his number scribbled on it and put it in the orange haired boy’s hand. Needless to say, he wasn’t surprised when he saw Hinata walk by in the hallway with multiple new bruises on his neck.

At least those bruises weren’t caused by violence.

Tsukishima clenched his fists when he remembered running his fingers softly on the big bruise on his once flawless face. He threaded his fingers through Hinata’s messy hair that was gelled up to perfection before Tsukishima clutched them when Hinata’s head was between his legs. He ran his finger softly on the red streak on Hinata’s perfect pink lips, just like what he wanted to do just minutes before. He tightened his grip on the smaller boy, as if he’d disappear at any moment. Tsukishima buried his face in Hinata’s neck and inhaled. He remembered Hinata smelling like cinnamon with a tiny hint of vanilla, it was oddly comforting.

Then a thought suddenly came back to Tsukishima.

**_“I don’t care.”_ **

Tsukishima moved his arm in front of his face to hide a smile.

_I will try to fix you._

***

Hinata loved watching the clouds lazily pass by on the rooftop. He loved the peace and quiet the place provided. Being the little rebel that he was, he still went up even if the school prohibited students from going there. He loved it there. Nobody screamed at him, nobody beat him to a pulp, nobody cursed at him, nobody called him names and nobody pushed him up against lockers when he refused to give his homework.

Hinata suddenly felt his phone vibrate. He fished it out of his pocket and read the message.

_Yachi:_

_Library. Biology project. Now._

He glared at his phone as of it would change the message it received. He stood up with a groan reluctantly and gathered his stuff.

_Time to face reality again, Great._

He heaved a deep sigh and opened the door to reveal the flights of stairs that led to the staff room of the school which happened to be the only entrance to the rooftop. Well the staff room was mostly empty because the people there had more important stuff to do than sit on a chair all day doing paperwork and dealing with students’ shitty handwriting.

When he finally reached the bottom of the stairs, the door that lead to the staff room opened and revealed a tall blond boy with glasses who regarded him with a bored look but his eyes held surprise and… was that relief?

Hinata’s eyes widened, stepping back from the boy. Nobody’s supposed to be here! So why was _Tsukishima_ here?

“Tsu…Tsukishima! What are you doing here?” Hinata stuttered as he clutched his phone in his hand as if his life depended on it.

Tsukishima looked down at him indifferently.

What’s with that look? Wasn’t he surprised that he bumped (not literally) into Hinata? Because Hinata was sure as hell surprised and was ready to bolt when the moment calls for it.

“You’re really short,” Tsukishima pointed out bluntly.

“What?” Hinata deadpanned but he was still tense.

How would he Tsukishima react?

Would he brush him off?

Would he tell him to forget something ever happened between them?

Would he pretend that the thing in the infirmary never happened?

Would he treat Hinata like a complete stranger?

Well technically Hinata _is_ a stranger. They weren’t close and up until recently, they never really talked or even made eye contact. So why did Tsukishima do what he did in the infirmary? Thinking back, Tsukishima was actually the one who initiated it all. He kissed Hinata first on the neck then fully on the lips.

Why did Hinata kiss back anyway?

 _Because Tsukishima Kei was hot and a damn good kisser_.

Hinata scolded himself and got rid of the thought. No, he shouldn’t think that way.

Was it because someone actually touched him in a way that wasn’t violent? That he was holding on to the fact that someone might actually like him?

Hinata mentally scoffed. Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen.

Hinata adjusted his glasses and looked up at Tsukishima expectantly.

Tsukishima suddenly reached out and for a moment, Hinata thought he was going to hit him so he closed his eyes and waited for the impact.

Instead, he felt a gentle hand on his cheek. He slowly looked up and found Tsukishima cupping his cheek, an odd and unfamiliar look on his usually blank and bored eyes. Hinata furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. What was he doing?

Suddenly he was pushed against the wall which caused him to flinch. Tendou had always pushed him against walls and it usually didn’t end well for Hinata.

But Tsukishima didn’t hit him. The blond removed Hinata’s glasses and placed his forehead on his, a surprisingly calm look on his face.

“Tsukishima…?”

Tsukishima sighed in content and closed his eyes. “Hinata, I….”

Hinata wrapped his fingers around Tsukishima’s arm that was connected to the hand touching his cheek. “Yeah…?” he whispered.

What was up with Tsukishima? Where was the impassive, rude guy he had known Tsukishima to be?

Tsukishima pressed his lips on Hinata’s and before Hinata could comprehend what was happening, the blond pulled away and walked towards the door where he came in minutes ago.

Hinata frowned at Tsukishima’s odd behavior.

“Oi, Tsukishima!” he called.

The tall male stopped walking and turned his head to face Hinata.

“You’re phone keeps on vibrating. Answer it already,” Tsukishima said.

Hinata glanced at the phone in his hand and it was indeed vibrating. Hinata sighed and denied the call. He faced Tsukishima with a serious face. “We need to talk.”

Tsukishima raised his eyebrows and faced Hinata properly.

“What’s there to talk about?” he asked casually.

Hinata rolled his eyes at the blond. “Oh, I don’t know. Infirmary? Yesterday? Ring any bells?”

Tsukishima smirked and tilted his head. “What are you talking about?”

Hinata looked at Tsukishima in utter disbelief.

He had already expected this to happen. He’d expected Tsukishima to deny everything that happened yesterday.

 _Of course, he would_ , Hinata told himself bitterly.

“You’re such an asshole…” Hinata said, refusing to meet Tsukishima’s eyes. He didn’t like Tsukishima.

So why did it hurt?

Tsukishima chuckled darkly and tossed his glasses towards him. Hinata barely caught the object and glared at Tsukishima.

“Oh, I remember what happened yesterday in the infirmary alright. But not with you. Let’s see… Ayame, Kurona, Ayano, Nagi, Chisaki, Sakura, oh and that smoking hot blonde named Kaori,” Tsukishima counted with his fingers and looked at Hinata mockingly, “But no Hinata-whatever your first name is.”

Hinata clenched his fists. What game was Tsukishima playing? Did he think this was funny?

“Sakura was pretty loud but she was damn good, you know? I hope she doesn’t have a boyfriend. I’d love to do it again with her, preferably not in the infirmary,” Tsukishima continued.

Hinata didn’t notice the single tear roll down his cheek. He felt played. He felt stupid. He felt used. He felt _dirty_. Hinata almost laughed bitterly. He shouldn’t be complaining. He could’ve just pushed Tsukishima away and prevented future drama. He should’ve said no. He should’ve stopped Tsukishima the moment he noticed him doing something. He should’ve had more control over himself. He shouldn’t have let himself be controlled by some _guy_. He should’ve told Tsukishima to fuck off.

So why didn’t he?

Why did he let Tsukishima do whatever he wanted to do with him?

Why did he flip them over and ravish the blond?

Why did he _like_ it?

“I don’t like guys anyway,” Tsukishima said with an amused chuckle.

Hinata slammed his fists on Tsukishima’s chest.

Tsukishima’s dark grin was replaced by a teasing smile.

“You’re not tall enough to punch me in the face. Cute.”

He punched his chest again and again until Tsukishima held his wrists in place.

He knew Tsukishima was lying about sleeping with multiple girls and not liking boys but the fact that he flat out denied what happened yesterday hurt more than it should.

Why did he lie about sleeping with lots of girls anyway? Tsukishima wasn’t like Kuroo. He's never even seen him flirt. So why?

“Why?” Hinata asked quietly, barely a whisper.

“Hm? Why, what?”

“Why are you playing stupid? Why did you lie? Why? Is it because you’re ashamed? If it was Oikawa-san, would you have said otherwise? Is it because I’m just a worthless piece of shi—“

Tsukishima’s face was blank as he covered Hinata’s mouth with his hand.

“I don’t want to hear your self-loathing. Go do it with someone who actually cares,” the blond said coldly and turned away.

And with that, Tsukishima walked out the door, leaving Hinata who had tears streaming down his face.

“Idiot…” Hinata heard him mutter.

Usually, Hinata would take offense to the insult.

But it lacked the bite he was used to receiving. It was… gentle? Fond? Affectionate? He couldn’t put a finger on it.

He sighed as he furiously wiped the tears on his face.

 _Tsukishima Kei, you have no idea how much you’re fucking with my feelings_.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY!!! xD 
> 
> I was listening to Fix You by Coldplay while writing this so idk. Remember I don't have an actual plot planned for this all I have is an ending and a summary I just randomly came up with. I just write random events that I thought would be cool so yeaaa. Welp see you guys next chapter I guess??
> 
> AND I JUST WANT TO EXPRESS MY OVERWHELMING EMOTIONS CAUSED BY YURI ON ICE EPISODE 11 (it's been almost a week and i still can't get over it) AND HOW MUCH IT _KILLED_ ME. WHAT'S UP WITH VICTOR??? AND YURI???WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO VICTUURI???? aaaa


	3. Face-plants, Pre-algebra, Blue Lemonade, and Library Lunch

### Chapter 3

#### Face-plants, Pre-algebra, Blue Lemonade, and Library Lunch

 

It was two weeks after the thing in the infirmary and Tsukishima still hadn’t uttered a word to Hinata ever since that incident in the staff room.

The blond hadn’t acknowledged him or even spared him a glance.

It was as if they were complete strangers.

(Which they were, actually. All Hinata knew about Tsukishima was that he was smart and cranky.)

This shouldn’t be getting into Hinata that much because all they did was random sex in the infirmary, but it was. Damn, it was. Hinata thought he could actually get to meet the person behind the indifferent mask and maybe go to lunch with him or something but he was _wrong._ Apparently, Tsukishima wanted it to be a one-time thing.

But Hinata still couldn’t get why Tsukishima lied, though.

Why couldn’t he just tell him to forget about it and get the hell away from him? Why did he have to lie about getting it off with Hinata?

Hinata decided to just (reluctantly) get on with his life and forget about that thing with Tsukishima once and for all.

That is until last week happened.

 

**_Monday_ **

Hinata was walking in the hallway, on his way towards his first class for today which was Pre-algebra until a certain redhead spotted him and called out his name.

Hinata cursed said redhead with all his might and clutched the book in his hand.

“Oi, loser! Look at me when I’m talking to you!” Tendou demanded and judging from the heavy footsteps coming his way, Tendou was probably stomping towards him, ready to break his face again.

Hinata cautiously turned around, ready to face a fuming Tendou.

Then Tendou faceplanted on the cold hard floor.

Everybody turned completely silent and watched Tendou as he slowly stood up with a pained groan, rubbing his nose.

Hinata wanted to laugh his ass off but decided against it in fear of getting beaten worse by the same redhead.

Tendou turned to Tsukishima sharply and glared daggers at the blond.

“What the fuck Tsukishima?”

Did Hinata forget to mention that the reason why Tendou gracefully kissed the floor was because Tsukishima casually stuck his foot out in front of Tendou?

Tsukishima raised his eyebrows and smirked mockingly at the redhead. “What are you talking about?”

_“What are you talking about?”_

Hinata furrowed his eyebrows at the familiar statement. He shrugged it off and continued to watch the scene unfold.

“You totally did that on purpose!” Tendou exclaimed and pointed an accusing finger at the tall male.

“I would never,” Tsukishima’s voice was still mocking as he continued to walk towards the direction he was probably heading before, “You’re just a clutz.”

Hinata watched in amusement how Tendou’s face reddened from embarrassment.

“No, I’m not! You’re such an asshole!”

Tsukishima only shrugged, leaving behind a fuming Tendou who (thankfully) forgot about Hinata and started to run to catch up to the blond, screaming, “Apologize!”

Well then…

 

**_Tuesday_ **

“Can anybody recall the first step and its formula to find the equation of the tangent line and normal line?” Mr. Brunner asked, scanning the class for any volunteers.

“Here we go again. Let me guess, that loser Hinata is going to show off his ‘skills’ again as if he could win people’s hearts with it.”

“Just leave him be. He has that so-called skill to make up for his pathetic self.”

“Pfft, yea right.”

Hinata lowered his head and stared at his lap. Was it his fault that he studies more than those people? Is being smart a flaw now?

_Ignore them ignore them ignore them._

Tsukishima promptly raised his hand and answered before Mr. Brunner could even call him out.

“The formula is _M_ sub _t_ is equal to the limit of _f_ times the quantity of _x_ plus _h_ minus _f_ of _x_ all over _h_ as _h_ approaches the limit zero. With the given, y= 6x 2 \+ x + 3 at (-2,2), you substitute all the x in the equation with _x_ plus _h_ then substitute the given equation to _f_ of _x_. Solve it using the rules of limits then you’ll get 12x,” Tsukishima explained then sat down.

“Very good, Tsukishima-kun. Then…” Mr. Brunner continued on and wrote the formula on the board.

Hinata watched from the corner of his eye how Tsukishima discreetly turned to the people who badmouthed Hinata and gave them a mocking smile, “See how I showed off _my_ skill?” He snarled which caused them to fall silent and avoid Tsukishima’s sharpening gaze.

Hinata stared at Tsukishima’s back as the taller male turned around to face Mr. Brunner but not before sending the evil people a final death glare.

 

**_Wednesday_ **

_Stupid pop quiz. Stupid Mrs. Moron. Stupid History crap full of dead people. Stupid everything._

Hinata was busily cursing everything that was involved with History class and shoving his enormous History book in his locker when he suddenly felt something wet and cold on his head.

Blue lemonade covered his glasses and dripped from his hair as he turned around to glare at the culprit only to come face to face (erm… face to chest) with a smirking Christophe Giacometti.

Hinata looked down as Chris wordlessly walked away, that evil smirk still played on his lips.

Needless to say, Hinata went to his next class doused in blue lemonade. He didn’t have any spare clothes (well he did have some in his locker but they _magically_ disappeared) and nobody offered to let him borrow theirs (no surprise there).

After his Trigonometry class, he walked towards his locker slightly shivering.

To his surprise, a piece of clothing was placed neatly in his locker. With furrowed eyebrows, he took the material into his hands and inspected it.

It was a dark gray sweater that was probably two sizes too big. He looked around to find the person who put it there but to no avail. The hallway was buzzing with students after all.

He went to the rest room to change into it. The moment he put it on, he was surrounded by an all too familiar scent, one that he once smelled when he was lying on top of a certain male in the infirmary.

_Dammit Tsukishima._

This time, he walked to his last class for the day wearing an oversized sweater.

 

**_Thursday_ **

Hinata went to his locker after his Biology class and stared at it disbelief after he unlocked it.

His books were strewn all over the tiny space of his locker, crumpled test papers and review sheets were scattered all over, and his other stuff were covered in what looked like paint.

A random kid laughed at him and shouted, “Serves you right, loser!”

He clenched his fists as he inspected the damage and looked for any signs of lost possessions.

His hands dropped to his sides as he sighed in exasperation.

_His lunch is gone._

Hinata always brought lunch with him because he wouldn’t even dare step into the cafeteria. Last time he went to that hell hole, he had to put up with people throwing trash towards his table, dumping liquids on his head, and squirting ketchup and mustard at him, so no.

There’s no way he’s going back there.

He’d usually eat in the library in silence, enjoying a particularly good book.

But now…

He clenched his teeth and sighed deeply.

 _To eat or not to eat, that is the question_.

Hinata went to the library and decided on getting drowned by a book instead of dealing with shitty reality. Besides, he liked the librarian there. She was a sweet, old lady who would often offer him really delicious candies. Said old lady called him when he got to the library and handed him a rectangular black bag and a tumbler.

“A handsome young man stopped by earlier and told me to give this to you. Such a sweet lad,” she told him.

Hinata held the two objects in confusion. “Really? What was his name?”

“I didn’t ask,” the old woman replied in a hushed tone, “But he was really tall and he had this curly mop of blonde hair. He also wore glasses. He looked absolutely adorable.”

Only one guy fit that description.

Hinata thanked the old lady and went to his usual spot in the library, a corner almost unseen by everyone who’d walk by. There were a small table and a chair set up by him to which the librarian actually agreed.

He unzipped the bag and brought out three glass lunch boxes. He opened the (fairly huge) containers and a delicious smell immediately wafted into his nose. His eyes widened at the variety of food in front of him.

The first one had two divisions. One contained garlic chicken and the other contained a dish Hinata’s mom once cooked, Sichuan stir-fried pork in garlic sauce.

The second container contained Risotto (which smelled absolutely _heavenly_ ).

Hinata’s eyes _sparkled_ the moment he opened the third container. He _knew_ it. It looked perfectly beautiful.

Blueberry Cheesecake.

Did Tsukishima make this for him? How did he know about his lunch going missing? Hinata saw Tsukishima earlier at the lockers so he obviously he didn’t go home to make these and the food was still warm. Maybe he called someone to send them?

It was really sweet of Tsukishima to do this.

So he actually had a sweet side. Who knew?

His mouth all but watered at the food in front of him. If the old lady said that Tsukishima told her this was for _him_ then he’s definitely going to _devour_ all these.

He’d just going to worry about approaching Tsukishima to thank him and return the containers later.

 

**_Friday_ **

Hinata couldn’t see Tsukishima anywhere.

Hinata took out his phone and looked for Tsukishima’s number (which Tsukishima wrote on a piece of paper with a note that says, _‘See you later’_ after infirmary thing).

His fingers hovered over the screen on his phone as he contemplated on texting the grumpy male.

They haven’t talked in _days_ and now Hinata just suddenly texts him? It’s not really a big deal if you think about it but _still_.

Tsukishima did give Hinata his number so maybe he was expecting Hinata to text him some time later?

The ginger internally groaned and pocketed his phone.

Maybe later.

Hinata held the tumblr and the rectangular box in his hands as he craned his neck to spot the tall blond. Maybe he was late or something. He then spotted a familiar, less tall (but tall nonetheless) brunet who was talking to a rather hot guy with messy black hair and feline features.

Hinata sighed and decided to just ask Oikawa where Tsukishima is and prevent further embarrassment.

He knew Oikawa was one of the nicer people in the school mainly because he didn’t give a damn about society and all its bullshit and fuckery.

Oikawa only ever cares about aliens and their existence.

How did Hinata know?

Oikawa _yells_ about them to his friends on a daily basis.

Hinata sighed again, the weight if the tumbler and bag reminding him about the fuss Tsukishima probably went through just to give him lunch.

It’s now or never.

Hinata walked towards the duo and smiled shyly when Kuroo spotted him. The black-haired teen tapped Oikawa’s arm and gestured towards the approaching ginger.

Oikawa turned around to face him and smiled brightly. “Why, hello there!” he greeted.

Hinata blushed at the attention and forced himself to look up at the taller male.

“H…Hi… Um… Have you seen Tsukishima? I kind of owe him for… erm… something…”

Hinata cursed himself for stuttering. That was so embarrassing!

Oikawa only grinned happily at him and put a finger on his chin. “Hmm… I kind of remember him telling Iwa-chan he won’t make it to school today. He didn’t say why, though! Tsukki is just mysterious like that. I remember him being…” Oikawa started to rant but then Kuroo put a hand on his face to effectively shut him up.

“Yeah, sorry. Oikawa’s always like this. Tsukishima won’t be here today because of a cold. Is there anything you want us to tell him for you?” Kuroo supplied, shooting Oikawa a scolding look quite similar to a mother’s and Hinata a sheepish look.

Hinata shook his head. “That won’t be necessary Kuroo-san. Thanks, though,” Hinata declined politely and walked away but before Kuroo and Oikawa left his hearing distance, he heard Kuroo mutter something.

“So _that’s_ Hinata Shouyou…”

“You mean Tsukki’s—mmph!”

“Ssshhh! Tsukishima will have our heads if he finds out we talked about _it_.”

“Alright, sshh it is then.”

Hinata’s eyebrow creased at what he just heard but decided to shrug it off for now.

So there are some other people other than Oikawa in Tsukishima’s circle of friends who’s not really a major asshole.

Hinata thought Kuroo was pretty chill (and really freaking attractive but he’s not about to admit that to himself).

Hinata didn’t know if he was supposed to be relieved or worried that Tsukishima was absent.

Relieved because that only meant he could prolong his confrontation or whatever.

Worried because they said he was sick.

Hold the fudge up.

Did he just say he was worried?

Hinata almost laughed out loud. There’s no way he’s worried about that jerk! No way. No freaking way. It was just a cold. People don’t die from colds, right? At least not immediately.

Right?

Right.

He had no reason to worry. He shouldn’t be worrying in the first place or even think about a reason why he’d have to. What’s Tsukishima to him anyway?

A stranger, that’s what he is.

One hell of an attractive stranger whom he had sex with (albeit not penetrative but sex nonetheless).

Hinata huffed at the thought. There we go again, going back to the infirmary thing.

He should really stop making such a big deal out of that incident.

He rolled his eyes at himself.

Yeah, right. _‘No big deal.’_

He inwardly scoffed and placed the bag and tumbler in his locker.

He’d have to give them back sooner or later and thank Tsukishima for being uncharacteristically kind not just because of the lunch thing but also because of the little things he did for him this week.

He slammed his locker shut and prepared for his first class. He looked at the wall clock that was conveniently placed on the wall.

Twenty minutes until the first bell rings.

As he made his way to Pre-algebra, he bumped into a hard wall.

He looked up and his eyes widened like freaking saucers.

 _Holy…crap_ …

It wasn’t a hard wall.

“Dumbass Hinata!”

"Sh...Shut up! Bakageyama!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read the first chapter for the first time after finishing it and found out there were _A LOT_ of typos but it's fixed now and it looks more decent. 
> 
> AAAAAnyways, tadaaa!! Here's chapter three *fireworks and stuff* 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it because I sure as Hades enjoyed writing it! 
> 
> On a completely different note, I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOI EPISODE UPDATE TOMORROW ASDFGHJKL MY HEART'S BEATING TOO FAST RN LIKE I CAN'T
> 
> See y'all next chapter!!! ^0^/


	4. Black, Silver and Gold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES I STILL EXIST XD I know it's been eons since I last updated and I'm so sorry. School's been murdering me.

As he made his way to Pre-algebra, he bumped into a hard wall.

He looked up and his eyes widened like freaking saucers.

_Holy…crap_ …

It wasn’t a hard wall.

“Dumbass Hinata!”

“Sh…Shut up! Bakageyama!”

Hinata looked up at the blue-eyed teen in surprise and disbelief. “What are you doing here?” he hissed.

“I just transferred today. Got a problem with that?” Kageyama replied giving Hinata a familiar glare the ginger has actually gotten used to.

Hinata rolled his eyes at the grumpy male and dragged him towards the lockers. He opened his mouth to speak but a mop of silver hair caught his attention from across the hallway. Hinata’s eyes widened again and turned to Kageyama with a questioning look.

“Suga-senpai’s here as well?!”

“Yeah. Why are you so surprised?” Kageyama asked, eyebrows furrowed.

Why was Hinata surprised? Why was Hinata _surprised_? Maybe because they literally just travelled halfway across _the world_ and acted so casually about it as if they’ve just arrived from the freaking supermarket or something. Maybe because he hasn’t seen his best friends for four years. Maybe because his childhood crush is here.

Maybe because Kageyama finally, _finally_ got rid of that gods-awful haircut that made him look like he just got sucked into a tornado summoned by Zeus himself and forgot what a friggin’ comb is for.

Actually… Kageyama doesn’t look half bad. In fact, he looked kinda good with his new haircut and that fringe looked cute on him (but he’s not going to admit that to the blue-eyed male in front of him, _no way_ ).

Hinata sighed and shook his head. Kageyama patted his head and eyed him somewhat curiously, eyebrows still creased.

“What’s with your look anyway? You look really different,” Kageyama commented.

Hinata shrugged. “Oh, you know…”

But before Hinata could say anything more, a voice called from behind Kageyama.

“Kageyama and… Hinata? Is that you?” Sugawara called, walking over them and earning a few curious looks from a couple of students.

_This is going to be a long day._

***

“So you moved halfway across the globe just to be in the same school as I am? Are you serious right now?” Hinata asked, incredulity lacing his voice as he stared wide-eyed at the two boys in front of him.

“Yeah.”

“Pretty much.”

Kageyama and Sugawara casually replied as they sipped on their milkshakes.

“And what of your parents? What do they have to say about any of this?” Hinata asked more, still not believing their act.

Hinata knew Sugawara and Kageyama’s families were _loaded_ but he didn’t expect they’d actually agree to send their sons outside the city, much less _the country_.

“They were pretty cool about it as long as we keep each other safe and eat three times a day or whenever we’re hungry,” Sugawara replied, giving Hinata a warm smile.

Okay, Hinata admitted he had truly missed that smile.

The smile that caused a swarm of butterflies in his stomach to rocket around, the smile that made his heart skip a bit and the same smile that made his mind go haywire.

But somehow, it didn’t have the same effect as it did years ago.

Now Hinata just felt a surge of nostalgia and longing. He missed his friends and his old life.

But he had consequences to face.

Hinata shook off the thought and focused on his friends, still can’t quite believe they were here with him.

“What about you Kageyama?” Hinata faced the blue-eyed teen who was happily drinking a box of milk after finishing his milkshake.

“Actually…” Sugawara trailed off, a sheepish smile painted on his face, “ _He_ was the one who came up with the idea.”

Hinata’s eyebrows rose at the new information.

“Really?” Hinata looked at Kageyama expectantly.

Kageyama nodded.

“Wow… You guys…”

Hinata was speechless. He felt different emotions running through him all at the same time. He just couldn’t believe his two best friends would do this for him.

The ginger held back the tears that were now threatening to fall from his eyes. He smiled genuinely at the two boys, amber eyes twinkling.

“Welcome to Abnegale, then.”

 

 

To say that Hinata had fun was an understatement. After their talk at the café, they decided to explore the city and give them a proper welcome.

It was already 9 P.M. when Hinata arrived home and was greeted by a maid.

“Welcome home, Hinata-san. You’re back late.” The maid pointed out.

Hinata smiled kindly at the maid and walked towards the stairs. “I had some friends who just moved in. Haven’t seen them in a long time,” he answered and went up the stairs towards his room. But before he could make his way towards the west wing, a voice reverberated around the seemingly empty walls of the mansion.

“Shouyo, thank goodness,” the deep voice said, “I thought I told you to text me before going somewhere unplanned or at least inform the house staff.”

The owner of the voice made his way towards the teen and gave him a pointed look. “We were really worried. And the twins have been asking non-stop for you.”

“I’m sorry… dad. Sugawara and Kageyama just arrived and I wanted to welcome them and maybe catch up,” Hinata explained.

Shouhei raised his eyebrows in surprise. “The boys are here? How come?”

Hinata smiled and shook his head in amusement. “They thought it would be cool to be in the same school as me.”

Shouhei chuckled. “Why am I not surprised? Those two…” he had a fond look on his face as he nodded his head towards the west wing, “I’m sure you’re tired. Up you go, Shouyo.”

Hinata bowed slightly and nodded before making his way up the stairs. “Goodnight dad.”

Hinata heard a faint, “Night.” before disappearing into the massive halls of the west wing and towards the safety embrace of his room.

Hinata sighed and leaned the back of his forehead on the hard surface of the door. He closed his eyes as an image if a certain little ginger with the biggest grin popped into his mind followed by an older woman with the same grin but a little controlled and mature.

“I miss you so much, Natsu, mom…” he muttered and let a single tear roll down his cheek.

The silence was cut by his phone letting out a loud _‘ding’_.

_From: Bakageyama_

_My place. Tomorrow. 8 am. No objections or else._

_Here’s the address:_

_\----------------------_

He sweatdropped at Kageyama’s message. What was the grumpy teen up to? He sighed and typed in a text.

_To: Bakageyama_

_Sure whatever Yamayama-kun_

_From: Bakageyama_

_Stop calling me that dumbass_

A small smile crept into Hinata’s face. As much as he hated to admit it, he kind of missed these playful banters between him and Kageyama. It reminds of the times before everything turned completely shitty.

He shook his head when he realized he was once again treading in dangerous territories. He had a really good day with his friends who just came from his old hometown after years of separation. He couldn’t let anything permanently ruin it.

He showered before changing into his pajamas. He stared at himself on the mirror. The unruly locks of orange hair now set free from the merciless hair gel, his dull brown eyes unobstructed by his thick-rimmed glasses, and his attire made him look like a kid considering his height (which was something he most definitely wasn’t proud of). He looked back at the black rimmed eyeglasses placed on his table. Why did he decide to wear those again? He sighed and looked around his room filled with volleyball posters. He squinted at that one caption just below the player who was about to spike.

Right.

He was nearsighted.

Other than that, his vision was fine. He just couldn’t see words and other things with accurate details from afar.

He ruffled through his hair once again and made his way towards his bed that was now calling out to him, tempting him like a siren.

“Bed…” he muttered and flopped down on the mattress. He sighed in content as he wiggled around and enjoyed the heavenly feeling of his tired muscles and bones finally hitting the soft material.

He’d marry his bed if he had to.

“Beds are better than people,” he turned to his stuffed wolf, “Steve, don’t you think I’m right?”

The toy wolf stared back at him motionlessly with big blue eyes. He poked the wolf and wiggled around once more.

“Gwaahhh!!! Why can’t I stay still? I’m tired but I still feel like I can travel across the Sahara Desert,” he talked to himself and rolled around the sheets.

He stopped moving when a thought crossed his mind. He stared at the ceiling as he thought about a certain curly blond with glasses. Kuroo-san said he was sick. Was he fine now? Was he still sick? Will he be able to go back to school on Monday?  Why did he do those things for Hinata anyway? It’s not like he cared right? He did, after all, act like a complete jerk back at the entrance to the rooftop.

Hinata huffed and rolled onto his stomach on his soft navy blue duvet. Whatever.

He’ll just return those containers Tsukishima lent him and get it over with.

Why was he thinking so much about this again?

He sighed and closed his eyes as he listened to the calming silence of his room, pulling him into a dreamless sleep.

***

“Hinata, dumbass!” Hinata heard Kageyama call from across the backyard, “Over here!”

Hinata was currently at Kageyama’s place and boy, was it huge. Hinata’s house was big too so he wasn’t new to these kinds of stuff but considering Kageyama just moved in the other, it was actually pretty big for someone who flew thousands of miles from home with only his other best friend and some guards and maids to accompany him.

He shouldn’t be surprised.

Kageyama’s family, after all, had a wide range of influence and connections all over the world.

A lot of magazines wanted him for their covers but they gave up eventually when they just couldn’t get the grumpy dark-haired boy to smile. Hinata couldn’t understand it either. Kageyama was whole-heartedly loved, rotten spoiled even, by his parents. As far as Hinata knew, Kageyama never had had any bad jumps in his life and he knew the blue-eyed teen all his life.

Maybe it was just his nature.

Hinata loved him all the same. He wouldn’t be Hinata Shouyo without his bossy best friend Kageyama Tobio.

They were _the_ duo.

Even before they met Sugawara.

Sugawara made a face when he saw Hinata.

“Good morning to you, too, Suga-senpai,” Hinata said cheerfully, just to annoy the silver-head.

“You’re still wearing those god-awful glasses?” Sugawara pointed out, eyeing the thick rimmed material with absolute distaste.

“I pretty much wear them every day,” Hinata stated, adjusting said glasses on the bridge of his nose.

“And your hair,” Sugawara gestured dramatically at his head, “What happened to those luscious tufts of sunshine probably blessed by the god Apollo himself?!”

“You’re overreacting senpai,” Hinata told the older, smiling sheepishly.

Sugawara crossed his arms stubbornly and frowned, “No, I am not. You looked absolutely adorable before. Now you look like… like…”

“A nerd?” Hinata supplied.

Sugawara scrunched up his nose. “ _No._ ‘Nerd’ isn’t an insult. Nerds are cool. They’re smart and they actually _think_ like how humans originally should. Anyway, no. You look like a two hundred year-old grandpa stuck in a kid’s body,” Sugawara ranted.

Hinata huffed indignantly and crossed his arms. “There’s nothing wrong with how I look,” Hinata grumbled, “I just… wanted a change, is all.”

“Is this about the accident?” Sugawara crossed, caramel eyes darkening and his voice, serious.

Hinata avoided Sugawara’s gaze and played with the hem of his cardigan.

“Hinata, it wasn’t your fault,” Sugawara said and put his hands on Hinata’s shoulders.

Hinata stayed silent.

No matter how much people told him it wasn’t his fault, he knew that it was. He was an irresponsible big brother and a failure for a son. He was supposed to be the one to protect his mom and Natsu, being the only male in the family after his father left.

Hinata clenched his fist. He wasn’t supposed to be here, living with his father. He was—

His thoughts were cut off when he felt a sting on his forehead. He covered his already-reddening forehead with his hands and glared at the culprit. Said culprit stared down at him with a nonchalant face.

Kageyama did _not_ just flick his forehead. He just _hated_ it when the grumpy male did it because it always hurt like a _female dog._

“Snap out of it, dumbass,” Kageyama said, more fond than offensive, and looked at Sugawara, “Don’t make him sad you idiot.”

Sugawara pouted a bit and put his arms around Hinata. “I’m sorry,” he said softly, “That was insensitive of me. Forgive me?”

Hinata smiled a bit. “There’s nothing to forgive Suga-senpai. It’s okay, really.”

Sugawara pinched Hinata’s cheek. “We’ve been best friends for what, seven years? And you still call me senpai.” Sugawara sighed and shook his head jokingly.

Hinata smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, old habit.”

“Are we going to play or what?” Kageyama interjected, sounding slightly annoyed though his eyes were gleaming with fondness he’d rarely ever seen.

What Kageyama said  caught Hinata’s full attention. “Play?”

Kageyama raised his hands that were holding a green, white and red circular object.

A volleyball.

“Yeah, what does it look like? Dumbass.”

Hinata stared at the ball in Kageyama’s hands nostalgically. When was the last time he’d actually played volleyball with people?

Sugawara grinned from beside Hinata. “Come on. Let’s see if you still got it Sho.”

Hinata looked up at the silver-head and grinned widely, nodding. “Are you kidding me? I’m still going to beat your butts.”

Sugawara chuckled. “That’s the spirit.”

***

 

It was as if everything was in slow motion. The familiarity of the sound of the ball as it hit Sugawara’s forearms and spinning towards Kageyama. Kageyama, looking focused and eyes completely zeroed in on the approaching ball, stretched his hands up. It looked as if the ball never touched his hands with the speed it was going, and was rocketing towards Hinata.

Hinata, eyes focused and locked on the ball, dashed towards it and with the bending of his knees,  stretching of his arms backward, and head tilted up, he jumped.

_I may be small, but I can jump!_

The beauty of Hinata Shouyo was incomparable. His glowing hair as the sun amplified its light, his glistening skin as small traces of sweat curved their way along it, his gleaming, amber eyes laced with genuine and unmasked happiness and his wings, stretched out and unhidden from the world, the wings that brought him hope, the wings that made him brave, the wings that made him unique and the wings that showed that he was _Hinata Shouyo_ , someone you’ve never actually known unless you’ve seen him fly.

The wings that showed his true self.

Sugawara smiled warmly at the sight. Yes, Hinata still got it.

He’s still their amazing little crow—bold, brave, strong and determined.

He’s still the same Shouyo, only stronger and more skilled.

He wondered how Hinata maintained this skill. Surely he’s practiced but judging by the look on his face when Kageyama brought out the ball, it seemed to him that the last time Hinata actually played was when he was still with them, back in their old city.  

Maybe he practiced alone?

“I practiced on walls and hallways and some soccer and basketball friends I met while touring around the neighbourhood,” Hinata answered when Sugawara asked the question nagging in his head.

“Walls?”

“Hallways?”

Sugawara and Kageyama questioned in unison.

Hinata smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. “I never met any volleyball players who were willing to play with me. I know some but they’re kind of…” Hinata trailed off with a sheepish laugh.

“You mean the populars?” Sugawara scoffed.

He hated it when people present themselves with insignificant brands and push away people they deem unworthy of their _faction_. They’re still humans with the same two arms and legs, and a head. So what makes them higher than the people around them? It’s not like they’re some royal family from another dimension. At least those royal dudes show dignity, grace, elegance and sophistication.

“Yeah…” Hinata muttered.

“Oh come on, Hinata! The Hinata I know doesn’t curl into a ball under the gaze of a popular. You’re better than that! And I really hate to use this card but you’re Shouhei-san’s son. If anything, they should be afraid of _you_. One word to your dad and he’ll throw them off the Marianas Trench,” Sugawara said, crossing his arms.

Sugawara just loved his best friends okay? And it hurt seeing Hinata so… so _vulnerable_.

“Snacks anyone?” a voice offered from behind them. Sugawara turned around and saw, Misa, the head maid carrying a tray full of sandwiches and three bottles of water.

“Yes!” Kageyama exclaimed and sped towards Misa who was chuckling lightly.

“Peanut butter and jelly for Tobio, Chicken for Koushi, and Nutella for Shouyo,” Misa said as she handed them two sandwiches of their flavour each.

Hinata’s eyes were _sparkling_. “You still remember?”

The thirty-nine-year-old lady ruffled Hinata’s hair affectionately. “Of course, little Shou. I’ve been Tobio’s personal maid since he was born and practically yours, too. Then Koushi came along and two became three.”

Hinata grinned up at the black-haired woman who smiled warmly in return.

“It’s good to see you, Misa-chan.”

“It’s good to see you too Shouyo. My, look how you’ve grown,” Misa said, smiling like how a mother would smile at her child.

That’s what Sugawara loved about Misa. She was never selfish, always giving her all into everything. Misa was like their second mother, fussing over them and being overprotective sometimes.

_Of course,_ he thought, _She watched us grow, herself_.

She was their when their parents were away which was most of the time. Being owners of massive groups of companies, Sugawara and Kageyama never had the childhood they longed for. Hinata only escaped the life they had because his mother wanted a normal life for him. After the _incident_ , Hinata’s mother changed Sho’s last name to hers and hid her before the media found out Shouhei had a son.

That was before the twins, but that’s another story for another time.

Anyway, Sugawara was still thankful. He had everything every child wished for. And Kageyama never complained so he guessed he was happy.

Sugawara heard Hinata moan when he took a bite from his Nutella sandwich. Sugawara shook his head with a smile and bit into his own Chicken Sandwich.

Moving here was quite possibly one of the best decisions Sugawara has ever made.

 

***

The three played volleyball until the sun dipped in the horizon, casting shades of blue, purple and orange on the darkening sky. They never really noticed it was getting dark until Misa called them in.

“Honestly, that was the most fun I had in a _long_ time,” Hinata admitted as he scrubbed his hair dry with a fluffy white towel.

The three had just taken a shower (Misa’s request because apparently, they smelled like the sun, whatever that meant) and were now on their way towards the dining room wearing their pj’s. Well Sugawara and Hinata were wearing Kageyama’s.

“So you could actually see without that thing on?” Kageyama asked when he spotted Hinata without his glasses.

“I’m a little near-sighted, not Harry Potter,” Hinata remarked as he poked Kageyama’s side.

“Who’s Harry Potter?” Kageyama asked, eyebrows furrowed, “Is he a volleyball player?”

Hinata facepalmed and shook his head. “I can’t believe you forgot who Harry Potter is.”

“He’s that four-eyed boy with a wand, Kageyama,” Sugawara answered.

“I don’t remember that Jace guy wearing glasses…” Kageyama wondered.

“It’s called a stele, not a wand Bakageyama. And they’re not even from the same book!” Hinata said, raising his arms for emphasis.

Kageyama scrunched up his nose in concentration. Sugawara chuckled and patted Hinata’ shoulder.

“Oh let him be, Sho. He’ll hurt his brain trying to think about those books you forced him to read,” Sugawara told Hinata.

“Well he could’ve just said no instead of grumbling inaudible nothings but still reading the books anyway,” Hinata crossed his arms and huffed.

“Because no one, I mean _no one_ , can fight your puppy dog eyes Hinata. Believe me, I tried. And the worst part is, you’re not even aware you’re doing it every time you do it unless someone points it out. It’s a weapon of mass destruction. Even Kageyama isn’t immune to it,” Sugawara went on.

Hinata looked at Sugawara in confusion. “Huh?”

“Never mind.”

The day ended with Kageyama hitting an antique vase with a volleyball and shattering the vase into pieces, Sugawara chasing Hinata around Kageyama’s room holding what looked like a dress (but it looked more like dining hall curtain than a dress because of its massive size) and Misa who was still not over the destruction of the priceless vase.

The day turned out better than he expected, now that he’s with his two best friends again.

 


	5. A Day With Two Young Blonds and an Older One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I just want to thank all you awesome creatures for your support and stuff. Feel free to give out suggestions and things you hope will happen. Hehehehehe
> 
> *ehem*
> 
> Anywho
> 
> Finally it's done! I had fun writing this chapter and I have a feeling some interesting stuff will happen in the next chapter idk xD 
> 
> Enjoy!

Hinata woke up to the sound of light snores and inaudible mumblings. Hinata blinked his eyes a few times to get rid of the blurriness and focused on his surroundings.

Right. He was in Kageyama’s room. Hinata and Suga slept over after spending the day with each other, playing volleyball. A small smile crept into Hinata’s face as he recalled the events from yesterday.

Now _that_ was fun.

Laughing with Suga and Kageyama, playing volleyball with them, teasing each other, he missed all of it.

He missed his best friends.

And having them with him right now still seemed like a distant dream he didn’t want to wake up from. At least now he had them with him.

He craned his neck to look at Suga who probably fell from the bed in the middle of the night and was now tangled in a mess of limbs and a blanket. He was mumbling away incoherent things as he hugged the huge pillow his head was lying on close to his chest, occasionally smiling probably because of something he was dreaming of.

Hinata tried to move but found it impossible when a sleeping Kageyama was sprawled all over him, his arms and legs hugging the life out of him. Hinata tried to wriggle out of Kageyama’s arms but the blue-eyed teen’s vice-like grip stopped him from doing so.

Hinata sighed and gave up as he let Kageyama cuddle him to his chest. Hinata relaxed as he listened to the steady rhythm of Kageyama’s heartbeat.

This wasn’t new to him, not at all. They used to do this a lot when they were younger. He was used to Suga’s cranky side when he wakes up and Kageyama’s unknown obsession for cuddling. Hinata didn’t mind being cuddled by Kageyama. In fact, he absolutely _loved_ it, especially during winter. Kageyama was a walking human furnace and Hinata loved the extra heat Kageyama seemed to give off.

A few minutes later, Hinata decided he really had to get up. His bladder was desperate for relief and his stomach was growling way too loudly. With a quick dab to Kageyama’s ribs enough to make him jerk a bit, Hinata quickly crawled out of the dark-haired boy’s embrace and made a dash for the bathroom.

After doing his business, he walked out of the room and made his way towards the dining room which was already buzzing with house staff, some running about and some chattering casually as they went on with their daily chores. Hinata was greeted by three maids passing by and each holding what looked like baskets full of clothes to which Hinata politely greeted back.

Hey, Hinata was raised by his mother to not be conceited and arrogant and be polite to people.

Hinata thought of his home back in Japan. He never had maids and butlers to do all the work for him, he never had drivers to drive him to wherever he wanted to go, he never had guards to watch over him like hawks and he never had cooks to make his food for him.

He did the chores assigned to him by his mom, he rode his bike to school every day, he never had the need to be watched over (Because, really, who was he for that stuff?) and his mom had always cooked food for Natsu and him. Their house wasn’t that big, too. He couldn’t say it was _small_. The traditional Japanese house was enough for four people. He had his own room, his own average-sized bathroom, some other stuff average houses have, and a dining room separate from the kitchen.

He was contented with the way he lived before.

Never did he thought he’d get to sleep in a room five times as big as their living room before (and they actually had a fairly huge living room) and call it his own. Of course, the cost of it made him want to prefer to live in a box for the rest of his life instead. No money could ever amount to the shit he went through that resulted in him living in a mini-palace.

Hinata shook his head as he went straight for the dining table and spotted Misa, setting it up.

Misa looked up and smiled when she saw Hinata approaching.

Yep, just like the old times.

“Good morning Shouyo. Had a good night’s sleep?” Misa greeted as she wiped her hands on her apron.

“Good morning Misa-chan. Yeah, best I had in a while actually,” Hinata replied as he sat on one of the velvet chairs of the dining room.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Misa looked at him fondly, “The two have been literally bouncing up and down their seats in excitement during the flight. They couldn’t wait to finally see you and possibly, your ‘newly-appointed female significant other,’ as Tobio liked to call it.”

Hinata smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck, his cheeks slightly dusted pink.

_Newly-appointed_ female _significant other._

Hinata wasn’t straight. He knew that. He _accepted_ that. His mother accepted that. His father accepted that after almost shatting bricks when he accidentally found out about it (something Hinata _refuses_ to mention ever again).

But his best friends had nothing to accept when they didn’t even know about Hinata’s being un-straight.

It wasn’t as if he didn’t trust them. He only found out about it two weeks before he moved to Abnegale, leaving him no chance to ponder over it and prepare to tell his best friends.

He wasn’t ready to accept who he was back then.

“I don’t… have a girlfriend Misa-chan…” Hinata muttered, the same sheepish smile still plastered on his face.

Misa waved her hands dismissively. “Surely you’ve got your eyes on a certain girl Shouyo. It’s only a matter of time before you get one.”

Hinata just shook his head, smiling, and proceeded to eat his breakfast.

_I doubt that_.

“Well, I’ll see you later Shouyo,” Misa patted Hinata’s shoulder, “I’ve still got some stuff to take care of.”

“See you later, Misa-chan.”

Hinata’s phone, which he took with him when he went to the dining room, buzzed.

_From: Dad_

_08:23 A.M._

_Hey. Do you mind taking the twins out? They wanna go somewhere ‘fun’ and specifically requested to have their big bro accompany them there. I’d appreciate it if you go Shouyo. The twins adore you more than their own father._

_Besides, you look like you need a break. Have some fun, will you? Take the Kageyama and Sugawara with you if you want._

_To: Dad_

_Of course. I’d love to go out with the twins. When are we leaving?_

_From: Dad_

_08:35 A.M._

_Whenever you’re ready._

_To: Dad_

_Okay. I’ll be home in an hour._

_From: Dad_

_Alright. Thank you for doing this Shouyo._

_To: Dad_

_08:43 A.M._

_It’s nothing._

Hinata looked up from his phone when he heard muffled voices and an annoyed shout.

Kageyama walked in first looking casual and calm followed by a scowling Sugawara.

Kageyama can be a bit blunt sometimes, they all knew that.

So what did Kageyama say this time?

“Good morning Kageyama, Suga,” Hinata greeted, peering over the huge chairs to look at Sugawara who was muttering inaudible things under his breath, probably cursing Kageyama.

Kageyama merely nodded and took a seat beside Hinata.

Let’s just say everything was pretty much uneventful after that except for the occasional teasing and chatter.

***

Hinata heard two voices scream when he entered the room.

“Nii-chan!!!” the voices chorused.

Hinata bent down and greeted the younger twins with a hug, laughing.

“Kaoru, Hikaru,” he regarded each six-year-old with a welcoming smile, “It’s nice to see you, too.”

“Tou-san said you agreed to hang out with us!” Kaoru said cheerfully.

“Oh did he now?” Hinata replied, raising his eyebrows while grinning widely at the two.

“Yeah!” Hikaru answered, “You’re going to take us to the mall and buy us ice cream! Lots of it!”

“Well if you can handle lots if ice cream, then I will,” Hinata said, standing up and grabbing one of their hands.

“Alright!!!” Hikaru exclaimed, fist pumping while Kaoru grinned widely up at Hinata, eyes sparkling.

After saying goodbye to their father, Hinata and the twins climbed in the car parked purposefully for them and had the driver drive them to the mall.

“Hikaru, you’re gonna hurt your eyes if you continue to play with your iPad while the car is running,” Hinata chastised, giving Hikaru a pointed look. Hikaru groaned and gave Hinata a pleading look, “But nii-chan! I’m making a complete replica of Camp Half-Blood,” Hikaru complained.

Hinata raised an eyebrow and took a peek at what Hikaru was doing. Indeed, the little boy was playing Minecraft and was now in the process of building a Greek Demigod camp from a certain series.

“I never knew you were into the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Hikaru,” Hinata stated.

Hikaru gave Hinata a huge grin. “Are you kidding me? It’s _awesome_! Tou-san bought me the series and said I should really try to read it. I just finished The Sea of Monsters. The movies were a disappointment,” Hikaru ranted, shaking his head.

Hinata must say he was surprised. When he was their age, all he focused on were Yu-Gi-Oh cards, volleyball, and cartoons. For such a little child to start reading book series already was kind of impressive to Hinata.

Hinata turned to Kaoru, who was silently watching Hikaru play. “What about you, Kaoru?”

“Kaa-san introduced us to anime. It was interesting,” he replied. Judging from the small smile on his lips and the corners of his mouth twitching as if he was stopping himself from exploding into a huge grin, Hinata thought it wasn’t just ‘interesting.’ But he didn’t say anything.

“Really? What anime?” Hinata asked, genuinely curious about what anime his stepmother showed the little twins.

Hikaru looked up with the same grin and Kaoru’s small smile widened a little bit.

_“Tokyo Ghoul.”_

What an interesting choice of starter anime for kids, indeed.

 

 

 

 

“You’re the best nii-chan!!!” Hikaru exclaimed as he mercilessly shoved spoonfuls of rocky road ice cream into his mouth whereas Kaoru was _calmly_ devouring his vanilla ice cream. Well, at least the latter had a less chance of choking than Hikaru who was wolfing down his ice cream with Olympian speed.

Hinata shook his head but nonetheless let the kid enjoy his ice cream and ate his own double dutch one.

They went to the toys section after that and bought shit load of new toys for both boys, including big ass boxes of Lego’s, Nerf guns (Hinata wasn’t sure they were even allowed to use those things yet), Minecraft mini figures, Marvel action figures and even a Barbie doll (according to Kaoru, Deadpool needs his damsel in distress). The two men in black constantly trailing behind them had already had their arms full of bags and even Hinata was carrying another five big bags while the twins were happily skipping on either side of him looking around, probably searching for other things to buy.

Everything was going smoothly, well as smoothly as three people exerting more effort than they should, carrying bags full of toy boxes can go, until Hikaru and Kaoru let out a gasp.

Hinata’s eyes quickly shot to them, about to ask what happened until Hikaru dashed towards a glass cabinet and stared at the item inside it.

_The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild_

“Let’s buy it,” Kaoru quickly said, mesmerized by the piece of plastic inside the fancy glass cabinet.

Hinata sighed, a small fond smile playing on his lips. These kids, really.

After finally dragging the twins out of the toys section, one man in black called forth some reinforcements to carry Their Royal Highnesses’ items back to the Royal Carriage. The twins requested to go to several stores for some Anime, Marvel and gaming merchandise. Poor men in black had to take shifts carrying the rapidly growing amount of baggage.

These twins are such geeks.

(Like their nii-chan)

(But Hinata lowkey collects merch so shhh)

After almost four hours of practically circling the entire mall to either shop, window shop, observe, or stare at various items, the twins finally decided they were hungry, much to Hinata’s relief.

“Finally, you two…” Hinata told the twins who were now jumping up and down impatiently as they fell in line in McDonald’s.

“We’re hungry nii-chan!” Hikaru complained, dramatically clutching his stomach for emphasis.

Kaoru furiously nodded to show Hinata that he agreed with his brother and tugged on Hinata’s shirt.

“A few more minutes,” Hinata held up a finger at the two, “How about you guys look for a table we can use, yeah?”

The twins nodded and ran off to search for a table amidst the mass of people.

After Hinata got their order, he walked around and craned his neck to look for the two little blonde boys. 

Oh, he saw a blonde boy, alright.

But he wasn’t little, no. He was 6 feet tall, alone in a booth, looking immersed with the phone he was holding with his headphones on. He occasionally munched on a fry distractedly, his eyes still on the book. Hinata bent his head low and tried to avoid Tsukishima as much as possible.

He didn’t know why, though. He just _felt_ like he had to.

Fortunately, Hinata spotted the twins in the other side of the room and hastily made his way towards them.

_Oh, thank goodness and everything above._

Hinata hoped, _prayed_ , he wouldn’t bump into Tsukishima. He just wanted a good time with the twins.

Somehow, deep inside him (like _really_ deep), Hinata knew he was lying to himself.

***

After lunch, the twins requested to go to the arcade.

Hinata instantly agreed. He could use some arcade right about now.

Now he wished Kageyama and Sugawara went with him. Apparently, Kageyama had to meet with his aunt who was in town for a business trip while Sugawara had this meeting with a family business partner and being the heir to their empire, together with his father, it was Sugawara’s responsibility to accompany their American business dudes in their visit here in Japan.

Hinata never had such responsibilities, or anything involved with their family business, really. He knew either of the twins or both of them, will be the ones to take over when their father retires. Although his father never talked about it (yet), Hinata just knew he wasn’t fit for the job. Hikaru and Kaoru were prodigies. They were _bred_ for business.

Hinata was more of an athlete than a CEO or whatever. Not that Hinata minded. In fact, he felt kind of free. After witnessing what his best friends had to do and the things they needed to achieve, he felt lucky. He was living a normal life as a teenager. No business partners to attend to.

At least, that’s what he told himself.

He just couldn’t help the dread and hopelessness creeping into his insides as he thought about how useless he was, how much he didn’t belong in a family of rich people.

Hinata didn’t notice there was a person in front of him until he felt himself trip.

The person tried to avoid Hinata’s path but one of Hinata’s legs got caught in the person’s just as said person tried to move to the side. Hinata felt himself freefall to the ground, ready to faceplant into it.

Hinata felt a grip on his wrist, and a sudden force turning him around and pulling him towards… a chest?

Hinata’s face got buried in someone’s hard chest, their bodies so close their knees were touching. An arm was wrapped around his waist and fingers threaded through the strands of hair a little above his nape.

The familiar smell of detergent and a tiny hint of boy’s perfume and strawberries filled his nose. Unconsciously, his eyes shut close as he slowly breathed in the scent of a familiar boy.

He laid his palms flat on his chest, feeling the boy’s heartbeat picking up speed until it was hammering against his chest, almost audible.

He heard said boy say something in his ear, hot breath fanning his face, his voice raspy and just… _hot_.

_“Hinata,”_

Something snapped Hinata out of his trance and tried to push the boy away, frowning. But the boy didn’t agree with Hinata apparently as said boy tightened his grip on Hinata’s waist.

Hinata looked up at the boy, his glasses askew and his eyebrows creased.

Hinata was about to snap at Tsukishima but stopped short when he noticed the look in his eyes.

It was a mixture of longing, regret, affection and a subtle hint of anger. If it was anger directed towards Hinata, he didn’t know. That look made Tsukishima look so unlike himself, vulnerable even. But as much as it was unlike the blond to look that way, Hinata could practically _hear_ Tsukishima plead from that look alone.

_‘Stay.’_

The fingers that were tangled in Hinata’s hair were now fixing Hinata’s displaced glasses. Tsukishima’s hand traveled from Hinata’s glasses to his cheekbones, his touch light as a feather.

_What was he doing?_

Tsukishima cupped Hinata’s cheek with one hand, his other arm still wrapped around Hinata’s waist.

“Hinata…” Tsukishima started, his voice soft which surprised Hinata a bit.

The look in Tsukishima’s eyes disappeared as he frowned and let Hinata go almost immediately. The action left Hinata feeling confused and lost.

_Huh? What just happened?_

Tsukishima shook his head and stepped farther away from Hinata.

“Tsukishima what-“ Hinata was cut off by Tsukishima speaking, his voice steely.

“It’s nothing. Forget about it.”

Hinata furrowed his eyebrows. That wasn’t nothing. That obviously wasn’t just _nothing_. Tsukishima’s expression, the way he said Hinata’s name, the way he pulled Hinata towards him, the way he held Hinata, the way he looked at Hinata. That wasn’t _nothing_. That wasn’t something Hinata could just _forget about_.

Seriously, what the _fuck_ was wrong with Tsukishima?

First, he’s gentle and affectionate and so _not-Tsukishima_ and then he suddenly turns cold and asshole-ish. It’s all so _utterly_ confusing.

Hinata held his hands up in exasperation.                  

He noticed Tsukishima’s gaze flicker towards something behind Hinata then back to him.

“You know what? Whatever.”

Hinata turned around and frowned. Where are the twins? And the men in black?

As if on cue, Hinata’s phone rang. He fished it out of his pocket and slid his finger across the screen.

“Hinata-san the twins—NII-CHAN!!! HELLO!!!”

Hinata almost flinched due to the volume of Hikaru’s voice.

“We’re already here, at the arcade. We figured you needed some alone time with your boyfriend. Don’t worry! We completely approve. He looks nice.” Hinata almost scoffed at that then realized his half-brother just called the bipolar blond his _boyfriend_.

“Hikaru, he’s not my—“

Hikaru cut him off and tutted.

This kid.

“It’s okay if you like boys, nii-chan. It’s totally fine! I’m sure tou-san would understand. Go on a date or something. Go.”

The corner of Hinata’s lips twitched. “How do you even know all these stuff? You’re supposed to be young and innocent.”

“With the internet and the growing advancement of technology and its influences, there is no such thing as innocent anymore, nii-chan,” Hinata heard Kaoru’s voice speak over the phone.

Hinata narrowed his eyes even though he knew the twins wouldn’t be able to see him anyway. “Kaoru what in Hades’ name do you even do online?”

“Nothing too bad nii-chan, I promise.”

Kaoru’s voice sounded innocent. In fact, it was _too_ innocent.

Hinata noticed Tsukishima glare at something past Hinata’s head. Hinata was about to turn around but remembered about the twins he was supposed to be looking after.

“We’ll talk about this later. I’m coming there.”

“No!!” Hikaru exclaimed, “Hang out with your boyfriend. We’ll be fine. We’re big boys nii-chan. Besides, we have the awesome men in black with their awesome sunglasses. They’re so stiff I swear someone will mistake them as statues someday.”

Hikaru had a point. The men in black were specially trained men to protect and watch over important people who could offer much better protection than Hinata could in his entire life.

Hinata risked taking a glance at the blond in front of him, who surprisingly didn’t leave yet. Huh.

Anyway, he still has to deal with said blond and clear things with him.  

Hinata sighed. “Alright, see you.”

Hinata pocketed his phone and turned towards Tsukishima who was still glaring daggers at something from behind Hinata. Hinata made a move to turn his head towards the direction Tsukishima was glaring at. 

“Alright, that’s it. What are you—“

For the umpteenth time today, Hinata was cut off when Tsukishima placed his hand on the side of Hinata’s head from behind and pulled him close, his other hand in his pocket.

Hinata’s eyes widened at the sudden action and blushed a deep red.

“Oi! Wh-What are you doing?” he stuttered so gracefully.

Tsukishima didn’t even spare him a glance and looked straight ahead. “Where are you going?”

“L-Like that’s any of your business!” Hinata shot back.

Tsukishima looked down at him. “Where are you going?” his voice held so much finality that Hinata felt obliged to answer him.

“To the arcade…” the orange-head muttered reluctantly.

Tsukishima let out a satisfied smirk and dropped the hand that was still placed on the side of Hinata’s face, to his shoulder, effectively slinging his arm around Hinata’s shoulders.

Sneaky bastard.

“To the arcade it is then.”

Hinata sighed exasperatedly.

_This is going to be a long day_.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Abnegale isn't real. I just made it up. I thought the word sounded pretty cool so I used it.
> 
> AAAnyway, I'm writing the next chapter as if I drank three trucks of coffee I just can't wait to _see_ Hinata's day with our beloved Tsukki aaaaa
> 
> The next chapter will be up as soon as possible I can't wait xD


	6. Half a Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HERE IT IS!!!! I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT BECAUSE I SURE AS HADES ENJOYED WRITING IT MY FINGERS ARE SHAKING OMG
> 
> Enjoy! xD
> 
>  
> 
> ***UNEDITED***

Hinata and Tsukishima stood in front of the arcade buzzing with people of varying ages. The sounds of engines revving, guns shooting, target hit, and some other games were all Hinata could hear as he stared at the massive place.

It was a haven for teenagers like him.

Hinata couldn’t wait to go here with Kageyama and Sugawara. Of course, Hinata had already gone here several times in which he was alone and playing the games out of boredom. It can get fatally boring in the mansion when you’ve got no friends other than the maids, butlers and other house staff.

Hinata randomly wished he had a dog now. Having someone who’s actually eager to see him every time he returned from school sounded pretty nice.

Tsukishima’s arm around Hinata was dropped a few minutes before they got to the arcade. Maybe Tsukishima was only acting or maybe he was teasing him again, Hinata may never know.

But he gotta admit, that actually felt nice. Embarrassing, yes. But only because he wasn’t used to it, much less from Tsukishima. The taller teen had already let him go but that didn’t mean he also stepped away from him. They walked side by side, so close their shoulders (well, Hinata’s shoulders) were touching. Tsukishima didn’t recoil from the touch. In fact, the usually brooding male looked satisfied and content.

Oh well. At least Tsukishima’s not snapping at him.

They walked in and the first thing Hinata did was look for the twins. Surely they never left, right? Otherwise they would’ve informed Hinata.

The carrot-head took out his phone and checked for new messages.

None.

Hinata dialed man-in-black’s phone (the one the twins used a while ago). After four rings, a voice answered from the other line.

“Hinata-san we’re still here at the (IS THAT NII-CHAN??) arcade. (LET ME TALK TO HIM!) The twins are playing Xbox (OH COME ON.) don’t worry. Are you doing alright, Hinata-san? (LISTEN HERE BOB. I JUST WANT TO TALK TO _MY_ NII-CHAN) I’ll call some guards to accompany you. (LAST TIME I REMEMBER, HE’S _MY_ NII-CHAN, NOT YOURS) Give me a moment.”

Hinata almost sweatdropped at Hikaru’s stubbornness. Despite that and his overall loudness, Hinata loved the kid (and little Kaoru too) as much as he loved Natsu. Even if he and the twins didn’t share the same mother, they still have the same father. Besides, blood-related or not, the two kids had already grown on him. They were just precious.

“That won’t be necessary, thank you. We’re here with you guys, anyway. Where are you by the way?” Hinata asked, looking around and trying to spot little twins and peculiar men in black.

“YOU’RE HERE ON A DATE? HOW SWEET! YOU DON’T NEED TO LOOK FOR US NII-CHAN. GO ON AND HAVE FUN!!” Hikaru exclaimed from the other line.

“Hikaru, don’t shout please,” Hinata heard Kaoru scold his brother, “Nii-chan is probably going deaf.”

“Oh sorry…” Hikaru whispered loudly.

See? Aren’t they just precious?

Hinata gazed at Tsukishima who was watching his surroundings with obvious interest.

“It’s not a date, Hikaru. He just tagged along.” Hinata groaned.

“Oh but it is. He’s in love with you nii-chan! I can _see_ it in his _eyes_!!” Hikaru proclaimed.

“Oh wow. That’s just ridiculous Hikaru. Just… meet me outside the arcade in three hours, okay?” Hinata instructed the younger.

“Aye, aye nii-chan!!”

Hinata ended the call and sighed. He looked up at Tsukishima.

“Now that we’re here, we might as well do something. What do you want to play first?”

***

“You suck,” Tsukishima deadpanned as he watched Hinata drive the Audi R8 LMS GT3 and swerved to the right.

“You need to step on the brakes and turn left as hard as you can during a drift and release the brakes the same time you go straight. It’s easy.”

“Easy for you to say!” Hinata exclaimed and groaned as his car hit the wall, effectively slowing him down and putting him in 6th place.

“Another drift is coming, look,” Tsukishima pointed out.

“No shit, Sherlock.”

“Hit the brakes, Hinata,” Tsukishima instructed. Hinata immediately acquiesced to his command and floored the brakes. Tsukishima then put his right hand over Hinata’s, that was currently clutching the wheel, and guided it. Tsukishima’s other arm was now casually slung around Hinata’s shoulder, which Hinata noted with a slight, almost unnoticeable, blush.

“Relax,” Tsukishima muttered to his ear, his breath tickling.

 _Oh gods oh gods oh gods oh gods he’s so close._  

Hinata’s breathing became shallow and fast due to the proximity and felt his palms starting to sweat.

_Thump._

Hinata felt his heart palpitate which caused his breath to hitch.

 _What the_ fuck _was that?_

Hinata felt Tsukishima’s lips brushing against his ears. The hand that wasn’t placed over Hinata’s right one pushed Hinata’s face towards Tsukishima’s, causing him to look at the blond directly. Tsukishima leaned in until their noses touched. The taller male stared at Hinata with hooded eyes and a growing smirk on his lips.

“Hinata,” Tsukishima started, his voice raspy, “Even with my help, you still suck.”

 _“Game Over. You lose.”_ Hinata heard the guy from the game say.

Hinata scowled and pushed Tsukishima away from him. “Bastard…” Hinata muttered under his breath which didn’t go unheard by Tsukishima because said boy cackled then grinned at the carrot-head.

Hinata stood up and looked for another game where Tsukishima wouldn’t have any reason to make fun of him. He hated racing games. It wasn’t his specialty. He only played it because Tsukishima teased him into playing the cursed game.

“Oh come on,” Tsukishima caught up to Hinata, a smirk still on his lips, “You’re not mad now, are you? Big baby.”

Hinata rolled his eyes and gave the taller male a pointed look.

“Oh I’m soooo mad. I’m a total diva bitching out because I lost in a racing game,” Hinata remarked.

Hinata looked around until he spotted a yellow and black volleyball plushie hanging on a wire in a shooting game. A wave of nostalgia surged through him as he remembered the same volleyball plushie back in Japan. He remembered the three of them, Kageyama, Suga and him, vying for the volleyball plushie first then it changed entirely into who could shoot the most soldiers first, plushie forgotten.

They spent the whole afternoon in that mini-game, just trying to beat each other and earned quite an audience.

A small smile crept into Hinata’s face at the memory.

He was snapped back into reality when he noticed Tsukishima approach the stand and gave the man managing it a bill.

“What are you doing?” Hinata asked. Tsukishima rolled his eyes. “What does it look like I’m doing?” Tsukishima remarked sarcastically as he grabbed the Desert Eagle pistol that looked too real to be a toy.

Hinata wanted to hold it.

He’d look badass.

“Idiot. I’m not doing this for you, if you that’s what you mean. I want the…” Tsukishima trailed off as if realizing what he was about to say was something he didn’t want Hinata to know.

A teasing smile was plastered on Hinata’s face as he crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow. “You want the what, Tsukishima? What is it that you want?”

Hinata noticed a subtle pink dusting the blond’s face causing his smile to turn into a full grin. “Awww, what’s this? The almighty Tsukishima Kei blushing?”

Tsukishima’s feeble attempt to glare at Hinata was really amusing. Hinata enjoyed it too much.

“You know I’m not gonna let it go until you tell me what it is, right?” Hinata pressed on.

“Fine,” Tsukishima said, “I want the…the green…”

Hinata cupped his hand behind his ear. “What is that? I can’t hear you.”

Hinata’s voice was teasing now. He was enjoying Tsukishima’s mortification more than he should.

Eh.

“I want…the green… the green… dinosaur…”

Hinata’s eyes widened a bit as he turned his head to look at the massive cute green T-Rex hung together with the volleyball plushie.

How _adorable_.

Tsukishima wanted the dinosaur. Hinata never knew.

Hinata smirked and motioned Tsukishima to start shooting. “Go on. Win the cute t-rex, Dinoman.”

Tsukishima’s gaze snapped to Hinata. “What did you just call me?”

Hinata’s lips stretched into a shit-eating grin. “Dinoman.”

Tsukishima gave Hinata a pointed look. “That’s just horrible, even for you.”

Hinata rolled his eyes at the other male, his smile never leaving his lips.

“Just play the damn game,” Hinata said.

About a million bullets and a hell lot of money later, Tsukishima still hasn’t hit enough soldier thingies to win the dinosaur. Turns out it was the prize that required the most soldiers hit and Tsukishima was still about 43% through. Tsukishima pursed his lips in frustration and lowered the gun.

Wow. He really did wanted the dinosaur.

Hinata watched in complete amusement as Tsukishima furrowed his eyebrows in concentration and held up the gun again and started a rapid fire in hopes of hitting at least some more of them.

Hinata wasn’t watching the taller’s progress with the soldiers anymore. He took advantage of Tsukishima’s complete attention on the task he was on and observed ( _stared_ ) at said boy’s face. He watched every detail of his almost-perfect face. His sharp jaw which seemed to be carved by the angels themselves (Hinata wasn’t kidding. His jaw was every guy’s dream), his soft-looking skin, so soft-looking that Hinata was almost convinced he applied different stuff on it (Maybe he does. Who knows?), the delicate lines of his nose, his long eyelashes, his too-perfect eyebrows (how the hell does he do that anyway??) which were now creased in sheer concentration, the golden pools in his eyes, and his lips curved downward in an almost-scowl.

Discreetly, he pulled out his phone and took a picture without Tsukishima noticing.

Woah. Tsukishima really was serious about his dinosaur. Never mess with a guy who’s in pursuit of his dinosaur.

Hinata sighed and inwardly patted his own shoulder. _Congratulations, pal. You’re now officially a creepy guy who likes to stare at people when they’re not looking_. Hinata turned his attention to the soldiers and laughed.

“Oh wow you really suck at this, don’t you?” Hinata teased.

“Shut up shrimpy.” Tsukishima snapped, definitely annoyed now. This only caused Hinata to laugh harder.

“Tsukishima Kei actually sucks at something. Who knew?” Hinata teased some more, enjoying Tsukishima’s growing irritation.

Tsukishima stopped to give Hinata a death glare which should’ve sent him running to Nopeville if it wasn’t for the fact that this guy was only annoyed because he couldn’t get his dinosaur.

“Give me that,” Hinata took the gun from his hands and took his stance.  Hinata licked his lips and peered at the soldiers through his glasses.

Then he took the shot.

One by one, he shot the soldiers in one shot each, not even stopping to see how many he has shot already.  When he ran out of soldiers to shoot, he lowered the gun and turned to Tsukishima.

“ _That_ is how you shoot, Dinoman,” he said, a little bit of arrogance lacing his voice.

Tsukishima huffed indignantly and crossed his arms. “I didn’t know you knew how to shoot stuff,” he muttered lowly.

Hinata feigned incredulity, a hand on his chest. “What you think I memorize History books for fun?”

“Actually, I do,” Tsukishima stated flatly.

“Fuck you,” Hinata said without bite.

The man gave Hinata the dinosaur, which felt _really_ soft by the way, and handed it to Tsukishima with a slight bow.

“To you, milady,” he said with a false British accent.

Hinata was so tempted to keep the dinosaur for himself as a joke just to see how Tsukishima would react. But he decided against it. He’s not really _that_ mean. Plus, he didn’t want to be in Tsukishima’s bad side now that they were somehow having fun.

Tsukishima stared at the dinosaur, probably contemplating whether to accept it or not. Accepting it would be a huge blow to his ego, but he did it anyway.

 _Huh. I guess he really_ does _love dinosaurs so much_.

Tsukishima avoided Hinata’s gaze. Hinata could see a tiny hint of blush on his cheeks as the blond stumbled for words.

Hinata found it absolutely adorable.

The library lady wasn’t kidding when she said Tsukishima was adorable. You just have to see past his assholey side.

“Th..Then…Th..Theff..Thanks…” Tsukishima stuttered, clutching the dinosaur.

Hinata wanted to reach out and pinch his cheeks so badly, but he resisted the urge and grinned at the blond. “No problem!”

Hinata was practically beaming. He got to see a side of Tsukishima most people probably haven’t seen yet.

Tsukishima cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. He grabbed Hinata’s wrist and walked towards a random direction. “Let’s go.”

Hinata gazed at the hand wrapped around his wrist and held the urge to grin giddily and let himself get dragged towards another game.

They played Tekken next.

“I’m gonna beat your ass at Tekken,” Hinata told Tsukishima to which the blond smirked.

“I'd like to see you try.”

Hinata stuck his tongue out in concentration as he made the most of what little hp he has left. Out of nowhere, he felt a poke to his side which caused to jerk.

Has Hinata every mentioned that he was ticklish af?

“You ass! That was cheating!” Hinata complained as he gazed at the bold words on the screen indicating that he lost.

“No, that was strategy,” Tsukishima countered as he crossed his arms and smirked conceitedly at Hinata, “I thought you were going to beat my ass?”

Then Tsukishima leaned in close to his ear and whispered,

“Last time I remember, I was the top. _I_ beat _your_ ass.”

Hinata almost blushed at Tsukishima’s statement, but then he remembered something and whispered back, “Last time I remember, you said nothing happened between us. Remember that?”

Tsukishima pulled away and frowned. Something flashed in his eyes and, as quickly as it came, it disappeared. His lips curved into a smirk as he stared down at Hinata.

“Touché, shrimpy.”

Tsukishima turned around and started to walk away. Hinata clenched his fists and was ready to correct himself when the other turned his head and shot Hinata a look.

“What do you want to play next?”

Hinata hesitated. There should be an awkward atmosphere between them or some kind of tension but Tsukishima acted like it was nothing. It was as if Hinata was the only one making a big deal out of it.

It probably was.

Hinata caught up to Tsukishima and looked around. Hinata heard Tsukishima hum and looked up at him. The taller male pointed at a basketball game and turned to Hinata.

“If you beat me, I’ll treat you to lunch tomorrow, anything you want. But if I beat you, you’ll have to do one thing I tell you to do and there will be nothing you can do about it.”

“I don’t know…”

Hinata didn’t feel like eating at the cafeteria. It’s been so long since he’d been there. But free lunch though…

But what was Tsukishima’s ulterior motive? Surely he didn’t just challenge Hinata randomly. Why that? Why did Hinata have to adhere to Tsukishima’s single wish if Hinata lost? Why so specific?

Hinata gazed at Tsukishima and saw him looking at Hinata with the same look he had when they were at the entrance to the rooftop, that unfamiliar look in his usually blank and bored eyes.

“If you’re thinking about Tendou, don’t worry,” Tsukishima said slowly, “I’ll be there.”

_I’ll be there._

Three words. Three simple words. But it made Hinata’s pulse quicken. Suddenly, Hinata felt reassured. Tsukishima’s voice just sounded so gentle, real and _genuine_ that it made Hinata believe him. Tsukishima will be there. _Tsukishima_ will be there. He’d kick Tendou’s sorry behind if he were to touch Hinata.

But why was Tsukishima being like this? Where was that jerk who denied him of their doings in the infirmary? The one who slapped him with his words?

Hinata thought about what Tsukishima did for him last week. There was that Tsukishima too.

Why did Tsukishima have to be so _confusing_?

Can’t he just make up his mind?

Tsukishima’s lips curved into a smirk. “That is if you win.”

Hinata used to play basketball with Suga and Kageyama for years before they got introduced to volleyball. Hinata admitted that he _was_ pretty good at it. His reach is more than one would expect due to this height. But that reach is more of use to volleyball than basketball. Plus, he loved volleyball more than basketball. There was just a thrill to it that he couldn’t explain.

_I may be small, but I can jump!_

Point is, he probably has a chance of beating Tsukishima.

But he must say he was quite curious of what Tsukishima might ask him to do if the blond won.

At this point, he guessed he it was safe to say that he somewhat trusted Tsukishima. Despite his T-Rex façade, he’s more of a Brachiosaurus inside.

Where did these dino-references come from anyway?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turns out Hinata didn’t stand a chance against the giant teen. Hinata fought to death, he really did. But Tsukishima was _good._ He didn’t miss a shot and he was _fast_.

Hinata expected Tsukishima to boast about winning and how he was planning to make Hinata lick the toilet or something but he got a surprised look from said boy instead.

“What?” Hinata wasn’t annoyed. In fact, he expected he’d lose. What with Tsukishima’s height and all. Surely the blond took advantage of it and got into sports.

“I never knew you played basketball,” the taller stated.

“Yeah? You also never knew I was gay before I agreed to get fucked,” Hinata sassed back.

There was silence between them until…

“I never knew you had such a potty mouth,” Tsukishima added, looking really innocent it was almost cute.

 _Almost_.

“I also never knew you liked dinosaurs,” Hinata countered with a teasing voice.

“Shut the fuck up…”

“Ooohhh Tsukishima cursed.”

“Hinata…”

“Tsukishima…”

“You’re such a pain in the ass…” Tsukishima shook his head at the orange-head.

“What?” Hinata feigned shock, “I thought _I_ was bottom.”

Tsukishima shoved the dinosaur to Hinata’s face to which Hinata tried to push back while cackling loudly.

Hinata lowered the dinosaur and found Tsukishima blushing deep red.

“Ohohohoho,” Hinata teased more, “You’re blushing.”

Despite Tsukishima’s red face, he managed to shoot back a sarcastic remark. “No shit.”

Hinata quickly took out his phone and snapped a quick picture of Tsukishima.

“What the… Hinata!”

Hinata stared at Tsukishima in amazement. It was the first time Hinata heard Tsukishima raise his voice.

“Don’t worry,” Hinata said while waving his hand dismissively, “No one else will see this. I promise.”

“Delete it,” Tsukishima said flatly.

“No,” Hinata replied stubbornly, “This is a proof that you’re not all that bad.”

Tsukishima stopped short and stared at Hinata, his face back to normal. “What?”

Hinata gave Tsukishima his dinosaur back and gave him a small smile.

“I said you’re not really all that bad, Tsukishima Kei.”

Hinata looked down shyly and ran his finger across the edge of his phone. “I never got to thank you,” Hinata looked up at the taller, “So, thank you. For everything you did for me last week. For stopping Tendou, for defending me, for the sweater and for the lunch. Thank you Tsukishima.”

Hinata saw Tsukishima visibly gulp and avoided the orange-head’s gaze. “It’s…It’s nothing.”

Hinata grinned at the blond. “So you do admit it was you.”

Tsukishima rolled his eyes at the smaller but it didn’t seem like he meant it in a bad way. “Well there’s no point denying it, is there?”

“See? You’re so full of fluff Dinoman.”

Tsukishima scoffed at Hinata. “Full of…” The taller sighed, giving up, “You know what, whatever.”

Hinata couldn’t wipe the grin off his face.

He thought hanging out with Tsukishima would be awkward considering what happened but it turned out fun. And he learned new things about Tsukishima today.

“Where to next?”

***

“Nii-chan!!!” Hikaru exclaimed as he ran for Hinata and engulfed him in a tackle-hug. Hinata laughed as he wrapped his arms around the little kid.

“Hikaru, woah.”

“Hello. I assume you took good care of our nii-chan today?” Hinata heard Kaoru ask as he put the other twin down.

Kaoru was small but his gaze was that of a warrior, scrutinizing and sharp.

Tsukishima was taken aback by Kaoru’s behavior. Hinata watched the scene unfold in amusement.

“Yes, I did.” Tsukishima answered the child formally. Hinata stifled a laugh at Tsukishima’s stiffness.

Kaoru turned to Hinata, his expression took a complete 180. He was now smiling childishly up at Hinata. “Did you have fun nii-chan?” Kaoru asked, genuinely curious.

Hinata chuckled and ruffled the younger’s hair. “Yeah, I did Kaoru. What about you two? I hope you didn’t have _too_ much fun.”

Hinata cast Hikaru a look. The latter brought his hands up in defense. “We didn’t get into trouble this time, I swear!”

Hinata hummed. “I sure hope so.”

Hinata turned to Tsukishima. “Tsukishima, these little troublemakers are my little brothers. Hikaru,” Hinata ruffled Hikaru’s head as he introduced him, “And Kaoru,” Hinata put his hand on the latter’s head, “Guys this is Tsukishima, my _friend_ ,” he said, heavily emphasizing the word ‘friend.’

“Whatever you say nii-chan,” Hikaru mused while Kaoru hummed in agreement.

Hinata sighed and looked at Tsukishima. “Thanks for today Tsukishima. I really did have fun.”

Tsukishima nodded in response and smirked. “Never expected I get to spend half a day with you, idiot.”

Hinata gave Tsukishima a blank stare. “Whatever, Dinoman.” Hinata shot back, a teasing smirk on his lips.

Tsukishima rolled his eyes and turned around. He raised a hand and waved, walking away.

“He seems interesting,” Hikaru commented.

“Yeah,” Hinata agreed, “He is.”

Tsukishima really was interesting.

And Hinata hoped he’d get to see more of him, past the T-Rex façade.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So whatcha think about our dorks?
> 
> I've got something planned and I can't wait to write it aaaaaa there's like a thousand ideas in my mind and they're just waiting to be written 
> 
> Welp see you next chapter


	7. Eventful Days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _YES I AM STILL ALIVE._
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>    
> School's been a total shit to me but now it's officially over I'm a temporarily free human woohoooooo  
>    
> I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your feedback and support and stuff you are all amazing *thumbs up*  
>    
> This thing here is a monster chapter and it could've been even longer had it not for someone who told me to freaking chill and save the continuous storm of ideas for the next chapter.  
>    
> (Btw I changed my username from SaberFaust to ravendrive. Just wanna let you know before someone reports me for plagiarism or something)
> 
> ALRIGHT I'M GONNA STOP RANTING NOW.  
>  
> 
> ON WITH THE TRASH WE CALL FANFICTION.

#### Chapter 7

##### Eventful Days

Hinata let out a yawn as he walked towards his locker, Sugawara treading beside him.

He glanced at the silver-haired teen from the corner of his eye as said boy typed at a maddeningly inhuman speed, eyes trained on his phone. Hinata nudged the other with his elbow which Sugawara pointedly ignored. “Who are you texting?”

“Kageyama,” he replied, still typing away, “He says his aunt just came for a visit from London so his father wanted him to accompany her and tour her around the city.”

Hinata looked at him fully. “Which aunt?”

Kageyama had lots of aunts and uncles. That lucky idiot would receive _mountains_ of gifts on Christmas shipped from all over the world. (For some reason, most of his aunts from both sides of the family preferred to live outside Japan while his uncles were scattered all over the country.)

(He even had an aunt from The Himalayas.)

“The blonde one with ridiculously humongous red glasses,” Sugawara pocketed his phone and faced the carrot-head, “She hasn’t been in the country for 10 years.”

“You mean Sango-san finally decided to visit home? Huh. Good for her.”

The duo went on with their conversation about Kageyama’s aunts and uncles when a body blocked their path. Hinata looked up at Tsukishima blankly. “Move.”

The tall blond looked down at Hinata boredly. “You. Me. Lunch.” he said simply and walked away as if nothing happened. The smaller male furrowed his eyebrows and stared at the retreating blond’s back before said blond’s words came to him.

“Huh? What do you mean ‘lunch’? Hey! Tsukishima!” Hinata called as he ran towards the male.

The idiot Tsukishima still had a bored look painted on his face as he glanced at Hinata. “I’m treating you to lunch,” he stated flatly.

Hinata raised his eyebrows.

“Why?”

What was he planning? Why would Tsukishima randomly treat Hinata to lunch? Was this about the bet back in the arcade? Did he feel bad about beating Hinata? Pfft. Hinata doubted it.

“Idiot. Just shut up. You should be glad I’m treating you to lunch,” The taller said as he put his hands in his pockets.

“Thank you, but no thank you,” Hinata wanted to say but three words suddenly rang in his head.

_I’ll be there._

Why would he feel safe if Tsukishima would be there? For all he knew the brooding male could be in on some wicked plan involving Hinata’s ultimate demise or something. Why should he trust him?

_Had he ever done anything of the sort?_

Well no but...

Tsukishima seemed to be a completely different person when he was around other people. He kept up this mean façade and convinced everyone that he’s this cool, mysterious, hot dude when, in reality, he was just a big adorable dork who loved dinosaurs.

Hinata heaved a deep sigh. “Fine…” he muttered.

Hinata swore he saw the other smirk from the corner of his eye.

Although it immediately dropped when a certain redhead came stomping towards them like a fucking gorilla.

“Seriously Hinata,” the ginger felt a hand grab hold of his arm, “How could you leave me?”

Sugawara pouted a bit and let go of the smaller’s arm. Hinata rolled his eyes good-naturedly and waved the silver head off dismissively.

“Oi Tsukishima! Why the hell are you hanging out with that loser?” Tendou exclaimed, pointing a finger at Hinata.

“Excuse me but I fail to see the other loser you’re talking about, besides yourself of course,” Sugawara sassed, a sweet smile on his face.

Tendou’s eyes went towards the silver head beside Hinata. The redhead raised his eyebrow. “And who might you be?”

“None of your concern,” Sugawara remarked, the same annoyingly sweet smile plastered on his face.

Hinata heard Tsukishima sigh. “What do you want Tendou?”

“Well I wanted to talk to you about the game last night but then I see you with… _this_ ,” he gestured to Hinata with a disgusted look on his face.

Sugawara narrowed his eyes at the rude male in front of them. Uh oh.

“Piss off, Tendou. I told you I’m not interested in baseball,” Tsukishima said as he sidestepped Tendou, leaving Suga and Hinata to deal with the annoying boy.

Tendou huffed and faced the duo. “Listen here you piece of shit,” Tendou grabbed Hinata’s arm and harshly glared menacingly at him, “Stay away from us, you hear? Trash like you have no right to be hanging out with people like us.”

Hinata opened my mouth to say something but stopped when Sugawara held Tendou’s wrist in a vicelike grip and shot daggers at said redhead.

“Takes one to know one, asshole. Fuck off before I break your wrist,” Sugawara threatened, his grip on the male’s wrist tightening. Tendou’s gaze switched to Sugawara and narrowed his eyes at the other male. The said redhead then scoffed then rolled his eyes at Sugawara after taking his hand back forcefully. “As if you could, sweetheart.”

Sugawara then took a threatening step forward, his dark glare unwavering. “You want me to prove it, gorilla face?”

Tendou returned Sugawara’s glare just as intensely. “What did you call me?” Tendou’s voice was dangerously calm, which was a huge blinking red sign that said, ‘Warning. Get the hell away if you still value your life.’

Hinata had been on the receiving end of that tone way too many times. It didn’t usually end up pleasantly for him.

Sugawara’s lips curved into a taunting smirk. “Why? Does it affect you that much? Aww.”

Tendou didn’t reply. He just stared at Sugawara with the same harsh glare, searching his face for something. Sugawara didn’t back down either. He stared back unblinkingly at the mean boy in front of him.

Hinata sighed and placed a hand on Sugawara’s shoulder. As much as he’d like to see Sugawara kick Tendou’s ass, he really couldn’t be bothered being called to the office and deal with the principal’s rant.

“Let’s just go Suga.”

After an eternity, Sugawara let out a deep sigh and broke his stare off with Tendou. “Fine,” he muttered begrudgingly and turned around to face Hinata.

“Chicken!” Tendou called after him. Sugawara didn’t even spare him a glance but Hinata was sure he didn’t miss the usually friendly boy flipping off Tendou.

“Seriously Suga. Why do you even bother?”

“Hinata,” Sugawara grinned and put an arm around the other boy’s shoulders, “What kind of friend would I be if I can’t even protect you from pathetic school bullies? Besides, I can’t take seeing my precious little sunshine getting hurt now, can I?

He then ruffled Hinata’s seemingly glowing hair affectionately. The latter swatted Sugawara’s hand away and tried to fix his perfectly slicked back hair.

“I’m used to it anyway…” Hinata grumbled. It’s not that he was ungrateful because he really was. He just didn’t want to burden Sugawara with his problems.

Sugawara promptly him and stopped walking, making Hinata stop as well. “Hinata, look at me.”

The smaller boy stubbornly refused to meet Sugawara’s eyes in favor of observing the floor with great interest.

Sugawara then grabbed Hinata’s face and turned the latter’s head towards him. “You have us now, Kageyama and I. You don’t have to deal with everything yourself. You may think that you’re bothering us with whatever it is your dealing with but trust me, you’re not. Hinata, we want to be there for you. That’s what friends are for. Don’t keep everything to yourself. You can tell us anything even the ones you think are insignificant. We’ll always be glad to listen.”

Thank the gods there were barely any people in the hallway. Hinata thought Sugawara’s ministrations would look too embarrassing to the eyes of others.

Hinata looked up at Sugawara who had a warm, affectionate smile on his face.

“Thank you.” Was all the ginger managed to let out.

Sugawara let go of Hinata’s face and sniffed, looking like he was about to burst into tears. “Aww, now look what you’ve done.”

Hinata shook his head, smiling. “You’re so emotional.”

“Darn right I am.”

Hinata grabbed Sugawara’s arm and half-dragged him towards Sugawara’s first class which, unfortunately, wasn’t with Hinata. Hinata thought he should accompany Sugawara (and Kageyama too, when he’s back) since he’s new.

“Come on, before people get the wrong idea. We looked totally gay right there,” Hinata told Sugawara with a laugh.

Who could blame those people though? Hinata was sure Sugawara looked like he was about to kiss Hinata to people who weren’t listening in on their conversation (Not that Hinata didn’t mind if people eavesdropped on that conversation. The words Sugawara said were meant only for Hinata to hear).

Sugawara laughed along with Hinata. “Yeah, cuz we’re _so_ gay for each other,” Sugawara chimed in.

Hinata let go of the taller boy’s arm and lightly pushed him, not really intending to harm the other.

“We are, aren’t we?” Hinata played along, a goofy grin plastered on his face. Gods, he missed being with his best friends. It’s been a long time since he felt this happy. Somehow, in their most dorky ways, his two amazing friends always managed to put a smile on his face.

Hinata truly appreciated that.

Sugawara cackled and slung his arm lazily around Hinata’s shoulders. “I love you, my little ball of sunshine,” Sugawara declared dramatically, poking Hinata’s cheek. Hinata laughed and tried to swat Sugawara’s finger away.

After a few minutes of joking around and pushing each other, the two finally reached Sugawara’s first class.

“See you later?”

Hinata was still smiling broadly. “Of course. Don’t get lost,” Hinata replied.

Sugawara shrugged. “Can’t promise you that.”

Hinata ushered Sugawara inside the classroom then proceeded to his own class after making sure Sugawara knew where his next class was.

 

 

The moment Hinata stepped into the classroom, his eyes immediately wandered but failed to find a certain blond male. Hinata’s eyebrows creased as he walked towards his spot and took a seat. Hinata found it odd that he got there first. He was sure Tsukishima went ahead after that scene with Tendou.

A few minutes later, said boy walked in looking as cheerful as ever.

And by cheerful he meant the usual blank expression on Tsukishima’s face accompanied by a pair of bored eyes. But this time, Hinata noted, Tsukishima’s eyes held something else.

Annoyance?

Irritation?

Anger?

Hinata kept his head low and his eyes trained on the tall boy. He wondered what could’ve happened. Did Tsukishima get involved in a fight? Hinata doubted it. Tsukishima hardly ever got into the drama the teenage life oh-so-graciously poured upon unfortunate souls. Hinata tried to push down his curiosity. What did he care anyway?

Hinata almost let out a miserable. And there he went again with the same issue and same denial.

Hinata’s continuous rush of thoughts was cut off by their teacher walking in. This time, Hinata let out a small sigh. Ugh, _math_.

 

 

\---

“Can I ask you something?” Hinata asked almost too inquisitively, glaring up at the tall boy he was walking beside with.

“Idiot, you’re already asking something,” Tsukishima remarked flatly, not even sparing Hinata a glance.

Hinata ignored the statement and went on with his question. “What’s wrong with you today?”

This time, Tsukishima glanced at Hinata from the corner of his eye for a brief second. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Well you looked somewhat pissed this morning, I don’t know.”

Hinata couldn’t help it. Curiosity got the better of him. Tsukishima was the type of person who never loses his composure and for Tsukishima to have shown such emotion if only subtly, was actually something Hinata couldn’t ignore. Hinata might seem like an oblivious idiot at times for other people, but he knew he could be perceptive. He was good at reading people’s emotions. But he always failed at reading Tsukishima. The latter was so goddamn impassive that Hinata never knew what he could be thinking about. That was why Hinata made a big deal out of what happened this morning with the blond. Hinata could actually _see_ the searing rage burning in those usually blank honey-colored orbs.

“It’s none of your concern.”

His voice wasn’t cold, but it wasn’t friendly either. Hinata understood, of course he did. It could be something really personal and Hinata wasn’t about to cross that boundary.

Tsukishima was a puzzle and Hinata didn’t know how to solve it. Even if he could, Hinata was kind of scared what he would find if he ever managed to piece the puzzle together.

Although he hated to admit it, it was exactly why Hinata was drawn to Tsukishima, strange as it sounded.

Because Tsukishima himself was strange.

Because he always showed sides Hinata never knew he had.

Because there was always a new piece to his almost never-ending puzzle.

Because he was just so utterly _confusing_ and Hinata kind of wanted to find out more, connect the dots together and figure Tsukishima out.

Now Hinata knew he was going nuts. Tsukishima was causing all this, damn him.

Hinata looked straight ahead and nodded. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

The rest of the trip was silent after that. Hinata glanced at Tsukishima every now and then and always found him with the same blank look on his face and an unusually cold look in his eyes.

Tsukishima was being distant. He was slowly slipping away and Hinata didn’t know why.

Tsukishima guided him to a table in the cafeteria.

“Wait here,” the taller boy told Hinata and went off to buy their food.

Hinata fidgeted in his seat as he tried to ignore the curious eyes of the students around him.

There were a lot of voices around him, talking about random things.

“Ugh, where’s Kuroo-kun?! Why isn’t he here?”

“Um, I heard he went to eat with his teammates.”

“Again?!”

“You should probably stop chasing after him, Jenny.”

“Why should I do that? He’s hot as hell. Are you into him?”

“NO. I just heard that he… swings for the other team.”

“He is NOT gay.”

“He totally has the hots for that other guy, Bokuto?”

“Bokuto? Bokuto _Kotarou_? No way. He’s too hot to be gay.”

“Right?”

Yep, there were a lot of voices and they weren’t exactly quiet either.

Why did he agree to this again? Oh right. Because he actually trusted Tsukishima for once.

 _I’ll be there_.

Well, he better be.

Hinata wished Sugawara was there so he wouldn’t have to sit alone with Tsukishima. Hinata lowered his head more, if that was possible, and adjusted his glasses. Sugawara was out catching up with the lessons here and stuff so he had to take lunch in a rush. Hinata wondered why Sugawara had to ‘catch up.’ He knew Sugawara was smart. Heck, he wouldn’t be an heir to a huge company if he wasn’t. So why?

Hmm…

It must be History. Sugawara’s main weakness was History. His silver-haired friend had always complained about having to learn more about dead cities, dead people, dead languages, dead practices, and even more dead people. Plus, it was boring.

Hinata couldn’t agree more.

“Well look what we have here,” A feminine voice sounded from somewhere to Hinata’s left.

There stood Jenny with her perfect platinum blonde hair and expensive clothes surrounded by her cronies.

 _Of course_.

Queen Bee had arrived and she wasn’t exactly happy to see Hinata.

Jenny crossed her arms, lips curved into a somewhat amused smirk.

“Hinata Shouyou, out of his den for once?” she taunted.

Hinata was at a loss for words, as usual. Jenny was there, probably planning to ruin his day like she had been doing since the first time he met her.

Jenny opened her mouth to say something but stopped. Hinata looked up and saw that Jenny was looking at Tsukishima who was now approaching with a tray full of food.

Jenny’s dark aura immediately shifted into a (fake) cheerful one. She smiled brightly at Tsukishima who regarded her with a bored face.

“Tsukishima-kun! You look as handsome as always,” she started.

Tsukishima looked at her for a few seconds before going back to his food and giving Hinata his. “Go away Jenny.”

But Jenny wasn’t fazed by Tsukishima’s rudeness. She touched his shoulder and laughed. “Oh don’t be like that Tsukishima-kun! I know you’re happy to see me. Don’t try to hide it,” she pushed, sitting beside Tsukishima while one of her two loyal followers sat beside her and the other sat next to Tsukishima.

Hinata didn’t know whether he should laugh or puke or both. Jenny sounded so pathetically desperate it was pitiful. Hinata took a bite from his burger and almost stared at the burger in surprise. Cafeteria food actually tasted decent. He took a bite again and tried to ignore Jenny’s annoying voice trying to convince Tsukishima into going on a date with her.

Seriously? Didn’t she just talk about how she was chasing after Kuroo? And now she was bothering Tsukishima?

Nope, Hinata wasn’t jealous. Not at all.

Why would he be jealous?

 _It’s not like he tried hard to have Tsukishima in bed with him_.

He almost choked at the thought.

_What the actual fuck, Hinata Shouyou?_

Okay, he was annoyed now. Because of Jenny and himself. Jenny, because _well._ And when wasn’t she annoying?

Himself, because of thinking about _that_. And thinking about _that,_ that way.

Oh gods, what was happening to him?

He ate his burger quickly and moved on to devour his fries.

Someone planted their butt on the spot beside Hinata and laid their head on their arms on the table.

Misaki looked like she was sulking.

“Ugh…”

“Still feel bad for breaking up with Tendou?” A girl with strawberry blonde hair and brown eyes sat beside Misaki and patted her back.

So it _was_ true. Tendou had a girlfriend. Well, _ex-girlfriend_. Who knew someone could actually put up with Tendou? Huh. The world and its mysteries.

The ex, Misaki, groaned and sulked.

“Come on Misaki that was like, a week ago. Get over it already. He was an ass anyway,” the same girl who consoled Misaki added.

Hinata nodded subtly. Darn right, he was an ass!

Why was Hinata listening in on their conversation again? Hinata mentally shrugged.

Well, it wasn’t like he had anything better to do. Tsukishima wasn’t actually the best candidate for a conversation, especially now that he was in a strangely foul mood.

“You know, you all have misunderstood him. He’s actually really sweet when he wants to be. He’s such a dork and he’s really funny that’s why he’s amazing to be with. He’s childish but mature whenever the time calls for it. He’s just… an amazing guy…” Misaki trailed off, sounding as if she was about to cry any second now.

Tendou? Fun? Sweet? Hinata doubted that. All those bruises, nosebleeds, broken bones and tearstained cheeks all proved that Tendou was every bit as horrible as Hinata made him out to be. He was a bully, a self-centered brat.

And yet, Misaki had learned to accept him.

Hinata didn’t have any problems with Misaki, really. She steered clear of him and Hinata totally didn’t mind that. According to some people, she was actually really kind when you get to know her.

“Misaki… Are you sure you haven’t fallen for him?” The girl tentatively asked the moping Misaki.

Misaki was silent.

“Misaki…”

“I don’t know Seryu. I don’t know,” Misaki finally spoke up with the softest voice, “Maybe… Maybe that’s why I broke it off with him… Because I was scared that I actually _am_ falling for him…”

Somehow, Hinata felt a little sorry for Misaki, disregarding the fact that the guy she was talking about was Hinata’s mortal enemy.

Feelings could seriously fuck you up.

“Heyyyy!”

Speak of the devil.

“Tendou!” The girl, Seryu, greeted half-heartedly (although she was trying to hide it) and waved at the redhead.

Oh great. Just what Hinata needed.

Hinata glanced at Tsukishima from across the table and found him having his headphones on, completely shutting out Jenny and the rest of the world. 

“Tendou,” Misaki regarded Tendou with a friendly smile, traces of her emotional breakdown before now gone. Maybe except for her slightly red eyes but it really wasn’t that noticeable.

Tendou’s gaze switched to Hinata. Hinata returned the gaze nervously.

Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods. What was he planning to do?

Tendou merely narrowed his eyes for a brief minute at the smaller ginger and sat beside Seryu, grinning at her and talking away as if he didn’t just spot his number one prey.

Okay…?

Hinata glanced at Tsukishima again and found him looking straight at Tendou. Tendou turned his head away from Tsukishima and continued to rant at Seryu about a baseball game.

Hinata’s eyes went towards Tsukishima again. The boy was on his phone scrolling through his phone.

What was that all about?

Hinata was about to call out to Tsukishima when all of a sudden, he felt cold all over.

“Oops.”

A girl with pink hair and brown eyes was grinning up at him holding a now empty red plastic cup, its contents now drenching Hinata.

 _Fucking_ Karin.

Hinata inwardly growled. She just poured her coke all over him! What the fuck was her problem?!

“Oh I’m sorry, _Hinata_. I thought you looked kind of parched so maybe you needed a drink?”

Yeah, right. _Parched_ her ass.

Karin was, by far, the most infuriating person Hinata had ever known. She was the complete definition of _bitchy_. Hinata swore he’d rather be stuck in a room with Jenny than sit next to Karin for three minutes. Jenny was actually smart with grades rivaling Hinata’s. She was a natural genius with a pretty face (even Hinata would admit that), not to mention rich.

Karin on the other hand was just plain demonic.

Hinata had barely had enough time to process what was happening when a laugh resounded around the cafeteria.

“Look at him, trying to look cool. You should really stick with your books, loser,” a boy with jet black hair and red eyes joined in the table he was at. Karin walked from behind him towards the side of the table. “I don’t know why you’re here or how you even had the guts to sit here but can you please go away? You don’t belong here?”

Hinata’s hands were shaking. What was happening? A sense of déjà vu washed over Hinata as he took in the other students joining in on their humiliation fest for the ginger.

“Kid’s got some balls.”

“Hah! As if he could be on their level!”

“What a joke.”

“Pretentious twat.”

“Piece of shit.”

“Arrogant little loser.”

“How did he get there in the first place anyway?”

Hinata looked over at Tsukishima and found him frowning slightly at Tendou. What was the blond doing? He was the one who offered to treat Hinata to lunch and now he was just sitting there doing nothing!

Perhaps…

Perhaps this was all a setup. He knew it. Tsukishima played him all along. Maybe someone dared him or something. Hinata cursed himself for being utterly stupid. Of course it was all a setup. He should’ve known better than to easily trust people. They were right. Hinata was one big, fat joke. A complete loser.

And this loser was out.

Hinata stood abruptly and ran towards the door leading to the exit but not before shooting Tsukishima the nastiest glare he could muster. _Bastard._

He was pretending all along and Hinata fell right into his trap.

Hinata ran towards the only place he could think of—the library.

Of course.

No one would bother him there.

 _I’ll be there_.

Bullshit.

Hinata remembered his time with Tsukishima in the arcade and his anger wavered. Who was the Tsukishima that got really aggravated when he didn’t get his dinosaur? Then the scenario back at the cafeteria played in his head and his anger spiked all over again.

Hinata didn’t notice the tears streaming continuously down his face as he dashed towards the library. Goddammit! Tsukishima didn’t deserve those tears! Hinata shouldn’t be crying over some jerk!

He was starting to trust Tsukishima. Hinata knew he shouldn’t but he still went and gave the tall bastard a chance.

And look where it got him.

Hinata all but blasted the door open and rushed towards a hidden corner in the room. Hinata ignored the old librarian who gave him a concerned look. She was probably used to this by now, Hinata bursting through the doors of the library eyes filled with tears. He curled into a ball, finally letting the tears flow freely. Why? Why did Tsukishima do that? Why did he just abandon Hinata like that? Surely he wouldn’t do all those things for Hinata if he was just acting, right?

Who was Hinata kidding?

This wasn’t a fairy tale. People would go even beyond human comprehension for entertainment.

_They’re all the same._

_Selfish._

Suddenly, a familiar ringtone rang through the air and filled Hinata’s ears. He fished out his phone from his pocket and swiped his thumb across the screen to answer the call.

“Leave me alone…” Hinata managed to speak out.

“Shut up I’m coming there,” came the blond’s response from the other line.

“Do you…” Hinata sniffed, “Do you even know where I am?”

“Of course, I do. Library, right?”

Hinata let out a wry chuckle. “You know me too well.”

A few minutes later, he heard the familiar gait of a certain indifferent blond.

Said blond found him and crouched in front of him, concern swimming in those usually bored eyes. He stretched out a hand and wiped the tears from Hinata’s cheek.

“Look at you,” His deep voice reverberated around the silent space of the library.

Hinata let out a choked sob. As much as Hinata wanted the boy to just go away and leave Hinata alone, the latter was actually thankful for his presence. He was honestly yearning for a hug right now.

As if reading his thoughts, the boy in front of him wrapped his arms around Hinata and pulled him into a hug.

“Kenma…” Hinata sobbed.

His usually unaffectionate friend hugged him tighter and stroked Hinata’s orange hair.

“Why…Why did Tsukishima do that? I never should’ve trusted him. He… They were all… Karin was…” Hinata trailed off as another fresh set of tears came flowing down his cheeks.

“They’re all assholes,” was Kenma’s glorious reply.

Hinata nodded and buried his head in Kenma’s neck. “They are…”

They sat there in silence for a while with Hinata’s occasional sobs and sniffs and Kenma’s whispers of comfort. 

“You should probably get to class,” Hinata said after the bell rang signaling the end of lunch break. His head was on Kenma’s shoulder, eyes trained on the rows of books in front of them.

“I’d rather be here than suffer through Physics,” Kenma replied, not taking his eyes off his Nintendo 3DS.

It was sweet that Kenma tried his hardest to comfort Hinata in his own way. The little ginger knew Kenma wasn’t really one for affection and physical contact but somehow, the other boy at least alleviated Hinata’s mood, if only a little.

Hinata was thankful for it.

Hinata chuckled at Kenma’s reply and slightly nudged him on the side. “I knew you were just looking for an excuse to skip class. That’s why you’re here,” Hinata was joking, of course. He knew Kenma wouldn’t hesitate to come to Hinata’s aid.

Kenma clicked his tongue and looked at Hinata. “You got me.”

Hinata ruffled Kenma’s long blonde hair, much to the other’s disapproval. Kenma swatted Hinata’s hand away and muttered inaudible things under his breath.

Kenma didn’t tell Hinata off for being stupid. Heck, he didn’t even ask why Hinata randomly decided to come to the cafeteria or whatever’s going on with Tsukishima and him and why the tall blond was in the picture. He just took Hinata in his arms and gave the best that he could to make Hinata feel better. Hinata loved that about Kenma. He wasn’t inquisitive, he didn’t pry and he trusted Hinata wholly.

Many people would say that Kenma was boring, a total geek, weird, socially inept, or too lost in his own world to initiate a proper human conversation (Actually, sometimes he was). But beneath his nonchalant persona, Kenma was actually a really good friend.

“Let’s get out of here,” he heard Kenma say.

Hinata turned his head towards the quiet boy curiously. “You…wanna go to class?” Hinata inquired tentatively.

“No,” Kenma replied while pocketing his 3DS, “I mean let’s get away from here. From school.”

Hinata looked at the boy incredulously. “Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

Hinata studied Kenma’s face for a minute. There was that rare look in Kenma’s face. His normally blank feline eyes were laced with hidden mischief and his lips, usually seen stretched in a straight line or concave downwards in sheer concentration, were curved upwards in a small devilish smirk. His expression gave it all away.

He was up to no good.

Hinata shook his head and stood up, giving the other boy a smile and holding out a hand. “Well what are you waiting for?”

Kenma took his hand and let Hinata pull him up.

“I have to stop by my locker. Meet you outside in, like, 5 minutes,” Hinata told Kenma as he patted his face for any stray tears or, heck, even snot (He hoped to all gods there wasn’t). Kenma gave him a nod as they walked out of the library.

While he was on his way to his locker, he heard an all too familiar voice echo in the empty hallway. Hinata quickly rushed for a hiding place—a small space behind a set of lockers. Hinata didn’t really want to face a typical awkward moment in the hallway with these people. No way. So he settled for hiding himself and wait for them to pass by.

“Shouldn’t we be running? We’re like 35 minutes late,” He heard a voice he made out to be Daichi’s, the volleyball team captain.

“Eh. I’m sure Coach will excuse us from Mr. Barnes’s wrath. It’s not like we purposely skipped class or anything,” Kuroo’s voice sounded from the same direction.

“Yeah, don’t worry Dadchi!” Oikawa chirped.

“Stop calling me that…” Daichi said with a sigh.

“I can’t believe those five just quit like that and right after a game too,” Nishinoya said, his voice tinged with a little sadness.

“Yeah, a game that _we_ pitifully _lost_ ,” Kuroo inserted bitterly, “No wonder they quit.”

“Well we couldn’t be perfectly strong every time, could we? Even we lose sometimes. That’s how we evolve,” Oikawa stated wisely, trying to lift their spirits.

“But that was an important game…” Bokuto sulked.

“Tetsu-kun your boyfriend is melting into the ground,” Oikawa told Kuroo.

“What do you mean melting—Bo! Get up. Come on, you big baby.”

“We have another match a week from now,” Daichi reminded them to which they all groaned except for Bokuto who was apparently still on the floor.

“And we lack three members, great,” Nishinoya said.

“Three?” Oikawa asked, “Oh that’s right! Semi-kun and Ryuun can fill in the two empty spots.”

“We can try contacting Tendou, Ennoshita, and Lev again. See if we can change their minds about leaving the team,” Daichi suggested.

Wait…

Tendou left the team?!

Hinata was confused. Why would Tendou quit the school’s volleyball team?

Hinata shrugged off the thought. It wasn’t any of his business so he should leave it be. Whatever caused it, it was for Tendou to know.

Maybe it actually was because the team ‘pitifully lost,’ as Kuroo so kindly put it.

“Nah, I tried to talk it out with them. They’re really dead set on quitting,” Nishinoya informed them.

Kuroo groaned. “Well shit…”

“Hey I think Iwa-chan likes someone,” Oikawa suddenly brought up, sensing the heavy atmosphere.

It seemed to work because Kuroo suddenly exclaimed, “Really?? The grumpy Iwaizumi, liking someone? Is the world ending? Bo, come onnnn. You’re such a fat ass I can’t carry you!”

“Who is it?” Nishinoya gasped, “Could it be Yachi? I heard they went on a date last Saturday.”

“Noya-kun that wasn’t a date silly,” Oikawa laughed, “They’re cousins!”

“Oh… Well who is it then?”

Suspense hung in the air as the boys waited for Oikawa to drop the name of the lucky guy who thawed Iwaizumi’s cold, cement heart.

“Kenma Kozume.”

All hell broke loose.

“What?!”

“No way!!”

“Really?!”

“Now you decide to stand up Bokuto?”

“Kenma? That boy with shoulder-length blonde hair?”

“Yeah! Haha! Oh yeah! I can’t wait to tell Ryuu!”

“That’s sweet.”

“That guy you once liked Tetsurou? Hahahahaha!”

“Shut up Bo!”

“You liked Kenma, Tetsu-kun? I didn’t know that.”

Their voices faded off into the distance as they finally moved away from Hinata’s hearing range.

Okayyy…

Hinata learned three things in the last five minutes.

  * The volleyball team just lost three members.
  * Iwaizumi liked Kenma.
  * Kuroo really was in a relationship with Bokuto Koutarou.
  * Oikawa called the captain Dadchi.
  * There were three spots available. Three coincidentally _perfect_ spots in the team.



Hinata shook his head.

The second one was the most interesting. The small ginger snickered. He couldn’t wait to tell Kenma.

 _Kenma_.

Shit he was probably already waiting outside for Hinata.

Hinata quickly went towards his locker, which wasn’t that far off from where Hinata was hiding and grabbed his backpack. He left it there before he went to the cafeteria to meet his doom.

Hinata thought he heard something clatter on the floor before shrugging it off thinking it was just the janitor and ran towards the exit. He pushed the door open and found Kenma on his phone, playing a game.

“Where to?” Hinata asked, standing beside Kenma. The other boy shoved his phone in his pocket and looked at Hinata.

“I’m craving for some ice cream,” Kenma suggested.

“Ice cream sounds nice.”

The two headed for the ice cream shop just a couple of blocks from their school. They enjoyed the nice stroll side by side, completely ignoring the fact that they just skipped school to grab a cone and shit, Hinata’s dad was going to kill him later.

He pushed the thought to the back of his head and enjoyed his time with Kenma. The quiet boy just practically invited Hinata to hang out with him. When was the last time Kenma asked for such a thing? That’s right. _Never_. It was Hinata who would usually coax Kenma out of his gaming cave and expose the boy to a little sunshine. And even that rarely happened. To say Hinata was happy was an understatement. He felt _ecstatic._

And for once Kenma was looking ahead, not down.

“Welcome to the world of the living, Kenma Kozume,” Hinata teased.

Kenma rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Funny.”

“Oh come on. Lighten up, Gamer Boy.”

“If I remember correctly,” Kenma gave Hinata a pointed look, “Wasn’t I the one who suggested we escape school and get ice cream?”

Hinata nodded and caressed his nonexistent beard. “Fair point.”

The ginger suddenly gave Kenma a Cheshire grin. “A bird told me someone likes you,” Hinata brought up.

Kenma rose an eyebrow at his friend.

_Oh this is gonna be good._

“Wanna know who the unfortunate guy is?”

“Not really,” Kenma deadpanned.

Hinata’s grin was still plastered on his face as he crossed his arms and walked ahead. “I wasn’t planning on telling you anyway. Where’s the fun in that right?”

Kenma caught up to Hinata and looked at the ginger curiously.

 _So he really_ does _want to know._

“I know that look. I’m not telling you,” Hinata told Kenma smugly.

“Fine whatever.”

“Aww Kenma. Don’t be mad,” Hinata cooed.

“I’m not—“ Kenma was cut off by the heavy rain suddenly falling on their heads.

“Crap!”

Hinata wanted to curse whatever being was above when he suddenly lost his footing and face-planted on the ground the moment he started to run.

“Ugh…” Hinata groaned and tried to push himself off the ground.

“Pfft…”

Hinata looked up at Kenma and narrowed his eyes. He found the other boy covering his mouth with his hand, shoulders shaking.

“Kenma are you…are you laughing?”

The other boy seemed to have lost it and laughed his ass off, clutching his stomach and doubling over in laughter.

As much as Hinata _loved_ the sound of Kenma’s incredibly rare laughter, he chose to pout at the boy and cross his arms childishly, totally not minding the fact that they were now completely drenched. Well it wasn’t like the rain stopped to laugh at Hinata too.

“Mean.”

The other boy finally calmed down but not before wiping a tear from his eye and letting out a chuckle. “You looked stupid.”

“You were supposed to help me, not laugh at me,” Hinata stated flatly, standing up.

Hinata rubbed his probably red nose. Damn that hurt.

***

Guess what? The shop turned out to be owned by Kenma’s aunt and she lived literally in the shop.

(Well it was a three-story shop and she lived on the third floor)

Because, Kenma practically lived there during summers (In a house full of ice cream you could devour to your heart’s content, who wouldn’t want to?), he had a bunch of clothes lying around in the spare room.

That’s how Hinata ended up wearing a black shirt that says, ‘I [insert porkchop icon here] Minecraft’ and red shorts with two black vertical lines near each side.

Hinata sighed as he emptied out the contents of his backpack which included a notebook, a spare pair of glasses and his pencil case. He didn’t worry much about his phone. It was created for careless teenagers like him who liked to run around in the rain and throw phones at walls for no particular reason.

Of course Hinata wasn’t like that, not at all.

Ehem.

Hinata’s phone was waterproof and apparently, so was Kenma’s judging by the calm look on his face as he casually wiped it with a blanket.

Hinata unlocked his phone and swiped through the pictures they took. There was Kenma ‘accidentally’ kissing the ground.

(Hinata totally did not stick his foot out so Kenma would trip. No way.)

There was also a video of them running away from a dog.

Hinata smiled at the picture of the two of them. Kenma’s brows were furrowed a bit and you could see a small pout on his face as Hinata wrapped an arm around his neck, pulling the blond towards him while grinning brightly at the camera. Kenma’s hair was a mess and Hinata’s bright orange locks were free from their constraints caused by the gel and were curling away freely.

Hinata set the picture as his lockscreen and proceeded to wipe his glasses.

“Let’s get some ice cream,” Kenma pulled Hinata by the arm and half dragged him downstairs.

“We were out in the rain for a while and you still want ice cream?” Hinata asked rhetorically, amused by Kenma’s enthusiasm for ice cream.

Needless to say, the day ended better than Hinata thought.

***

“What?!” Sugawara fumed as he clutched a pillow, pretending it was Tsukishima and strangling it mercilessly.

Sugawara and Kageyama were sleeping over at Hinata’s place this time. Naturally, the ginger told the two about what happened during lunch and Sugawara was nowhere near amused.

“I’m going to _murder_ him. I’m going murder _them_.”

Kageyama munched on his chips, silently observing his two best friends.

“I’m sure your parents won’t appreciate it Suga,” Hinata said, sweatdropping.

“Argh! Justice!” Sugawara cried out.

Kageyama patted Sugawara’s back, still munching on his chips.

Hinata decided it was time to change the subject and told them everything that happened right after. From the thing in the library with Kenma to the thing in the ice cream shop with Kenma and his aunt.

“This Kenma guy seems nice,” Sugawara started, a suggestive glint in his eyes.

“No way. Whatever you’re thinking, stop it. He’s like my brother. That’s gross Suga,” Hinata made a face at Sugawara.

Sure Hinata thought Kenma was cute but that was how he saw Kenma as a human being, not a guy liking another guy. Like how everybody thought puppies were cute or how every girl (and a selection of guys) thought Kuroo was hot. All Hinata was going to see Kenma as was a _friend_ , a brother, another human being he was closely associated with.

Sugawara crossed his arms. “Alright whatever.”

“So,” Kageyama started, “The volleyball team has three slots open?”

Hinata shook his head slowly, laughing nervously. “Oh no Kageyama. No, no, no, no, no.”

Sugawara’s face lit up like a child on Christmas day. “Oh yes! We are so joining the team.”

Hinata shoved a pillow to Sugawara’s face. “No, Suga!”

“But I want to play volleyball,” Kageyama said with the most obliviously innocent face ever.

Sugawara got up and pulled the pillow from his face, still grinning brightly. “Don’t you want to be in a team Sho? Playing in matches, having actual teammates, _being on the court_ , wouldn’t that be cool?”

Hinata sighed and smiled sadly.  “I do want to be in a team, Suga. It’s just that…” Hinata trailed off, staring off into space.

_Loser._

_Worthless piece of shit._

_What a joke._

_Kid’s got some balls._

_Arrogant little loser._

_Pretentious twat._

_Hinata Shouyou_.

Who would ever support a team with a player like him? Who was Hinata Shouyou to be fighting alongside them? As if he were on their level?

“Hinata, hey.”

Sugawara grabbed Hinata’s face gently and cupped his cheeks. “Is it because of _them_?”

Hinata refused to meet Sugawara’s eyes and stayed silent.

Was it really because of them? Or was it because of himself?

The thought of joining the team when Hinata was never going to be good enough scared him. He loved volleyball. Just not always the people he was playing it with.

Maybe it _was_ because of himself.

Hinata was scared.

Call him a coward or whatever. He was never going to be good enough to play with real players. He never had any teammates before. He only ever played with Sugawara, Kageyama and a bunch of other random kids but never enough to play an actual match. Other than that, he trained by himself and played for his own amusement.

Hinata _wished_ he could play. But he didn’t want to bring others down with him. People looked up to the other players. Imagine if Hinata suddenly got into the picture.

He just… _couldn’t_ do it.

There was never enough reasons why.

He. Just. Couldn’t.

Shouldn’t.

_Wouldn’t._

“I’m sorry, Suga.”

Kageyama ruffled Hinata’s hair. “It’s okay. We understand.”

Hinata gave them a lopsided smile. “You can play without me. Please, don’t let me stop you from doing what you want.”

“Oh Sho,” Suga gave Hinata a side-hug and a warm smile, “It wouldn’t be what we want without you in it.”

Sugawara pulled Hinata into a full hug and reckoned Kageyama closer. “Come here, Grump.”

“No,” Kageyama deadpanned.

Sugawara pulled Kageyama’s arm and wrapped his other arm around him that wasn’t holding Hinata.

“I love you guys,” Sugawara sighed contentedly, burying his face in Hinata’s messy curls.

Kageyama patted Sugawara’s back awkwardly and grunted, “Hn.”

That’s right. Hinata had Sugawara and Kageyama (and let’s not forget Kenma as well). He couldn’t ask for anything more.

***

“Achoo!” Hinata sneezed and wiped his nose with a tissue. The ginger groaned in discomfort and hugged his stuffed wolf tighter.

“I don’t feel so good…” Hinata muttered as he tried to breathe in through his nose.

Sugawara placed a hand on Hinata’s forehead and frowned. “You shouldn’t have ran around in the rain for too long, Sho.”

“It was fun,” Hinata argued in his nasal voice.

“It doesn’t sound just as fun now, does it?” Sugawara countered, putting a wet towel on Hinata’s forehead after moving his body so that he was facing the ceiling.

“I don’t need your lectures right now, Suga…” Hinata whined.

Hinata felt _awful_. He was hot all over and really cold at the same time, it was as if there was a sledgehammer pounding in his head, he couldn’t breathe through his nose and his mouth was really dry.

 _Ugh_.

Maybe he shouldn’t really have stayed under the rain for too long. Kenma did warn him about catching a cold, but did he listen? Nope.

“Achoo!” Hinata sneezed again.

Hinata saw Kageyama frowning down at him.

“What is it Kageyama?” Hinata glared at Kageyama weakly.

“Oh leave him be Sho. He’s just really worried that’s all. Now go back to sleep. You need rest,” Sugawara instructed Hinata, adjusting his duvet.

“Yes doc,” Hinata grumbled, closing his eyes.

Well at least he didn’t have to go to school. Hinata might as well enjoy the peace and quiet even if he had to go through a killer headache. _Ugh_.

This was going to be a long day.

***

 

“They were created to _protect_ mankind selflessly from things beyond man’s understanding and comprehension, from beings far stronger than anything we could imagine and now _mankind_ wants to restrict them, seriously? I say I’m on Cap’s side. I love Tony and all, but Cap has a point. And Bucky’s hot.” Sugawara explained to Kageyama who just listened attentively to what his best friend was saying, sipping on his box of milk.

“And don’t get me started on _Thor_. I totally understand his abse—“

“Well well well,” A voice came in front of them, “Hi there.”

“Hello,” Suga all but scowled at Tendou who was countering him with a glare of his own.

“Oya oya?” A boy with spiked white hair and black roots suddenly appeared out of nowhere, wiggling his eyes suggestively at Tendou, “Is this the guy you were talking about Tendou?”

“Oya oya oya? Someone who matches up with Tendou’s… aggressiveness?” a guy with jet black hair styled in a ridiculous bedhead said from beside the guy with the owl hair.

Okay…

What’s with the ridiculously attractive guys suddenly popping out of nowhere?

“Who are you people?” Sugawara’s glare was still sharp and deadly, his gaze shifting between the three.

The guy with the bedhead opened his mouth to say something but Sugawara waved him off dismissively and pulled Kageyama by the wrist who was watching the exchange silently.

“You know what? I don’t care. We’re outta here,” Sugawara snapped and dragged Kageyama away who was still innocently sipping his milk.

“Yeah cuz that’s what you’re good at right? Being a coward and running away?” Tendou taunted, causing several heads of students turning their way.

“I just choose not to waste my time on people like _you_ ,” Sugawara countered, his mouth curved up into a sneer.

“Ohohoho!” The idiot duo let out simultaneously.

Tendou balled his fists and raised them at Sugawara. “You’re really trying to pick a fight, aren’t you the newbie?”

Sugawara smirked arrogantly and waved him off. “Don’t bother. I doubt you’d win anyway.”

Tendou seemed to lose it when he threw a perfectly aimed punch at Sugawara’s face. But before he managed to land a hit, the silver-haired male grabbed his fist and twisting his arm, causing the redhead’s body to turn around. Sugawara pushed the redhead against the nearby wall, his back facing Sugawara. With two hands, Sugawara rendered both of Tendou’s hands useless by holding them together with unbelievable strength.

Sugawara leaned in and whispered in his ear, “You thought you could face a storm. Turns out you can only handle a little rain and _Tendou_ ,” Sugawara smirked and tightened his grip on the redhead’s wrists, “I’m a fucking hurricane.”

Sugawara abruptly let go of his wrists and walked away, Kageyama trailing behind him.

The silver-haired teen heard someone from behind him let out a low whistle.

“ _Damn_.”

Who did he think he was? Just because he got away with treating Hinata like shit didn’t mean he could do the same with Suga.

_Heh. Just try laying a single finger on Hinata, asshole. I’d make sure you wouldn’t be able to see daylight again._

Sugawara stalked down the hallway, an irritated smirk still plastered on his face.

“That was Tendou right? The bully?” Kageyama confirmed as he bounded over beside Sugawara after throwing away his milk box.

“Yeah, that was him,” Sugawara replied through gritted teeth, “I hate him.”

Sugawara clenched his fists in annoyance. There was something about the guy that just really _irked_ him. Maybe because of his annoying taunting smirk? Or the way he talked? Or his mere existence? Sugawara had no idea.

“Suga watch out!” He heard Kageyama yell.

It was as if everything was in slow motion. His motor reaction didn’t fail him when he held his hand out and successfully caught the ball speeding towards him. He winced at the force of the impact and bounced the ball into his other hand. He turned his head towards the direction the ball was sent from and came face to face with a tall brunet grinning sheepishly at him. “Sorry,” he apologized, scratching the back of his head.

“Shittykawa!” A dark-haired guy (with phenomenal arms) whacked the guy on the back of his head, scolding him, “You could’ve hit him!”

“Ow, ow, Iwa-chan that hurt!” The guy who apologized before pouted at the angry guy (Iwa-chan, was it?), “I said sorry!”

Sugawara smiled at them and returned the ball to them. “It’s okay. Don’t worry.”

“It’s not okay,” came a flat voice from behind Sugawara.

The silver-haired teen grabbed Kageyama by the arm and dragged him away.

“Oikawa-san! Didn’t I tell you not to bring balls outside the gym?” Sugawara heard a guy scold the brunet, Oikawa.

“Gomen, Dadchi~”

“Don’t call me that!”

Sugawara’s hand was still gripping Kageyama’s arm when he furiously shook it and jumped up and down on his spot.

“That was Oikawa Tooru!” Sugawara whispered loudly.

Kageyama let out a noncommittal grunt and a small nod.

“That was Oikawa-freaking-Tooru, Kageyama! I totally forgot he played here! This is awesome!” Sugawara continued to gush about Oikawa and how he was an amazing setter when Sugawara reached his first class.

The boy bid the grumpy male goodbye before entering the Chemistry Laboratory. He sat on an empty steel stool and pulled out his phone and plugged in his earphones.

 _This is going to be a long day_.

He still had a few minutes before class started so Sugawara decided to fold his arms on the table and laid his head on them, holding his phone in his hand.

Almost immediately, a myriad of thoughts rushed into his mind. The silver-head was still not over the fact that, in just over a day or so, he was suddenly a citizen of another country. He was already staying here for days but he was still trying to get used to the colder climate and some other stuff. He wasn’t normally impulsive but the thought of seeing Hinata again made him really excited and decided to fly to gods know where the ginger was _immediately_. Sugawara suppressed a grin from crawling into his face.

For four years, Hinata went completely off the grid. No one could locate him, not even with his parents’ vast expanse of influence. Kageyama asked for his parents’ help too but to no avail. Hinata just disappeared after what happened with his mother and sister and took Natsu with him.

But a week ago, Kageyama’s dad found out about Hinata’s whereabouts and immediately informed them. Needless to say, they were very supportive of their transferring here. Something about camaraderie?

He heard a loud laugh pierce through the loud music blaring through his earphones. He shrugged it off and continued to get lost in his thoughts. He heaved a deep sigh and shifted so as to get more comfortable on the cold hard table.

_It all happened so fast, as a hard, muscled body slammed into my own._

_Dammit._

***

All Tendou could hear was Bokuto-baka’s loud, incessant cackle as he suddenly got pushed off his feet with surprisingly great force.

He felt his back hit something and realized that that _something_ was a person when said person let out a loud yelp. 

Uh oh.

After quickly gaining balance, he turned around and tried to prevent the person from hitting the floor. Or something.

Now Tendou didn’t exactly care how and everything pretty much happened on pure instinct from there.

Like how he failed to catch and pull the person up so he (so stupidly) lost his balance again (much to Bokuto and the others’ amusement). But this time he _did_ (oh thank the gods) manage to soften the fall by placing his left hand under the person’s head and slamming his other hand into the ground so as to not crush the person underneath him.

He didn’t lie if he said he wished the person was a girl cuz, _damn_ , that person’s hair was soft as _hell_ and he’d sure love to just tangle his fingers in it.

Against his better judgment, he did just that.

Except he wasn’t met with long silky locks like he expected. He looked down and gazed at pools of honey-colored orbs that were now widened in surprise and disbelief. He didn’t ignore the sweet scent of vanilla and a hint of boy’s perfume wafting through his nose as he stared back at Sugawara with equal shock. Their faces were _centimeters_ apart and, _fuck_ , his heart was beating really fast like what the actual fuck was happening Tendou couldn’t believe it and— hold the fuck up, were his eyes really this pretty? He couldn’t remember when every time he looked at the silver-haired boy he was either glaring, sneering, or smirking nastily. Shit, shit, shit, _shit_. He had to get off like _right now_ but argh crap he couldn’t move his body! He just kept on peering down at the boy in obvious trance, noticing how his eyes were slowly going back to their normal size, as amber stared back at red ones with Sugawara’s mouth slightly open and an almost unnoticeable blush forming on his cheeks and speaking of blush was Tendou’s face seriously warming up and—

Was that a camera flash just now?!

“Now they’re lying on the cold, hard ground! Ohh!! Ohh!! TROUBLE, TROUBLE, TROUBLE!!” Bokuto and the other’s sang, completely off-key.

That was all it took for Tendou to snap out of his trance and apparently so with Sugawara as well.

“ _Ugh, get off of me!_ ” Sugawara groaned and forcefully shoved Tendou away.

“Woah!”

Alright, Tendou didn’t expect that.

“Geez, you’re welcome. I totally wasn’t the one who stopped you from painfully hitting the the ground,” Tendou added sarcastically, rolling his crimson eyes as he got to his feet and faced Sugawara.

“If I remember correctly,” Sugawara retorted, standing up as well, “You were the one who slammed into me. Remember that?”

Okay, that was true.

“Whatever,” Tendou finally gave in petulantly.

He turned to Bokuto and marched over to him. He glared at the owl-head and smacked him upside the head. “This is all your fault,” Tendou accused.

The idiot merely grinned and waved his phone at Tendou. “At least we got a good blackmail picture,” Bokuto said as he showed off a picture of Sugawara with Tendou on top of him.

They really looked like they were about to make out.

_Ugghhhhhh._

He discreetly turned his gaze to Sugawara who unplugged his earphones and shoved them in his bag, a series of profanity escaping his mouth in a low mutter.

_Ugggggghhhhhhh._

“I fucking hate you man,” Tendou grunted.

“Love you too,” Bokuto chimed in.

“I’m gonna tell Kuroo you said that.”

“Go ahead. I totally wouldn’t mind getting a good punishment from him for being a _bad, bad_ bo—“

“I’ve heard enough!” Tendou cut Bokuto off, completely aware of what the other was going to rant about next and he really didn’t want to hear it.

Bokuto just gave him a shit eating grin, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. “You can join us sometime if you want. I’m sure Kuroo wouldn’t mind it.”

Now imagining it was _hot_. Actually doing it was a completely different story.

“No thanks,” he replied dryly to which the owl head shrugged.

 _Man, I’m gay_.

_Good thing Misaki noticed it or else I could’ve had a hell lot of explaining to do._

***

Morning rolled by quickly. Next thing Sugawara knew it was lunch. He and Kageyama were sitting comfortably side by side, eating their lunch when someone suddenly sat in front of them practically giving off ethereal light.

“Hello there! I saw the picture, by the way. You’re even cuter in person!” The brown-haired guy, Oikawa, beamed at them.

“I feel bad for the people you’re bothering this time, Shittykawa,” A grumpy voice grumbled from behind Oikawa and sat next to him.

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa laughed and gave… Iwa-chan… a hug from the side. The grumpy male had a deadpan face on which made it 2x funnier.

“Iwaizumi, there you are,” A calm voice sounded from behind them.

An incredibly pretty guy holding a tray full of food sat beside Iwaizumi and set the object on the table in front of Sugawara and Kageyama.

Who were these people? (Maybe except for Oikawa)

And why were they sitting with him and Kageyama?

(Again, except for Oikawa because he totally didn’t mind)

Iwaizumi’s face brightened, if only a bit, at pretty boy’s presence.

“Akaashi,” Iwazumi regarded him calmly although it was obvious he was trying to hide his excitement.

“Akaaaaashiiiiiiii!!!” A voice boomed throughout the cafeteria. This time, Sugawara found the voice awfully familiar.

Bokuto lunged at Akaashi’s sitting form, attempting for a hug before Kuroo pulled him by the collar, much to Akaashi’s relief.

“Bo, don’t disturb poor Akaashi. Can’t you see he’s eating?” Kuroo chastised a dejected looking Bokuto. Kuroo dropped him on the seat beside Kageyama and sat next to the owl-head. Kuroo kissed his cheek. “You have me though.”

Bokuto’s mood suddenly got lifted as he beamed at his boyfriend.

Okay…?

“Suga, who are they?” Kageyama whispered, looking at the new faces around him like a lost puppy.

“I only know Oikawa and that couple, Bokuto and Kuroo because they’re from my Chem class. I don’t know who those two are though.”

“Quick, Bo! Move your ass! Tendou’s coming,” Kuroo suddenly whispered loudly.

“Right!”

Huh?

Bokuto suddenly stood up and sat on the empty seat beside Oikawa.

“Tetsu-kun, can we please switch?” Oikawa asked.

“Absolutely.”

They immediately switched seats so now Oikawa was sitting beside Kageyama who was sitting next to Sugawara. That meant…

“Hey guys!” Tendou greeted cheerfully.

…The only vacant seat was the one next to Sugawara. How cliché.

Devious Kuroo.

What were they planning?

“Hey Tendou,” Kuroo and Bokuto greeted back innocently.

 _Way_ too innocently. Little devils.

Tendou scanned the table. His face twisted into a nasty look as his eyes landed on Sugawara. “What’s _he_ doing here?”

“This was _our_ table before your friend over there intruded,” Kageyama responded, gesturing at Oikawa who stuck his tongue out cutely.

Tendou glared at Oikawa before scanning the table again. “Where am I supposed to seat?” Tendou whined.

Kuroo acted as if he was scanning as well before grinning widely at the annoyed redhead. “Looks like that seat will have to do.”

“I can’t sit next to him!” Tendou complained.

“Damn right he can’t,” Sugawara inserted.

“You’ll just have to,” Bokuto said while shaking his head, “Or do you want to sit with Misaki?”

“This seat is awesome thanks for saving it for me you guys,” Tendou quickly planted his butt on the seat next to Sugawara.

“Misaki is Tendou’s ex. They dated for a few weeks before breaking up last week,” Oikawa informed them.

Huh. So there’s actually someone out there who had willingly put up with him, if only for a short while. Life and its mysteries.

“You know we should really introduce ourselves first,” Akaashi butted in, “He probably only knows Tendou and the idiot duo.”

 _And Oikawa_.

At least there was someone who was actually a normal person sitting with them.

“I’m Akaashi Keiji,” Akaashi started.

“Iwaizumi Hajime.”

“You probably know me—“

“Unfortunately for him,” Iwaizumi intervened.

Kuroo ignored Iwaizumi’s statement and went on with his introduction.

“I’m Kuroo Tetsurou.”

“Bokuto Koutarou, hey hey hey!”

“I’m Oikawa Tooru but you can call me Fab—“

“Shut up Trashykawa.”

“Rude!”

“…”

Tendou completely ignored them all and proceeded to eat his lunch.

Fine by Sugawara.

The latter smiled warmly at them and introduced himself, “I’m Sugawara Koushi and this is Kageyama Tobio.”

Kageyama let out his usual grunt and focused more on eating his lunch and staring at his half-eaten burger than interacting with fellow human beings.

“Soooooo, Suga-kun,” Oikawa started with a friendly smile on his face, turning to Sugawara.

“Somebody please stop him…” Akaashi grumbled.

“Do you play volleyball?” The seemingly childish brunet asked excitedly.

Sugawara couldn’t wait to go home and rant to him about his exhaustingly eventful day.

_By the gods…_

 

***

Hinata was barely awake when he felt fingers carding through his hair. He didn’t open his eyes, assuming that person was probably Sugawara. His best friend did that a lot when they were young.

Having no need to let his guard up, he snuggled more into his stuffed wolf. He did wonder why he was home for lunch though. The ginger shrugged it off. It was a little unusual but not unexpected.

He didn’t feel as awful as he did this morning. In fact, he was actually a little better. But he wasn’t about to tell anyone that. He just wanted to take the whole day off from school and be lazy.

He suddenly felt a pair of lips on his forehead and a warm, minty breath fanning his face.

Okay?

Hinata heard the door open and close before opening his eyes. He was greeted with the sight of a basket of varying fruits lying on his bedside table. He sat upright and took a red apple from the group. He was about to dial Sugawara’s number when two little humans burst through the door and ran towards Hinata.

“Nii-chan!” The twins exclaimed in unison.

Hinata glanced at the clock on wall. Ah, yes. The twins had only half a day of classes. Of course they’d be home.

Hinata returned their smiles with his own and ruffled their hair. “Hikaru, Kaoru.”

“We heard you were sick!”

“Are you okay now?”

“Yeah, I’m good as new!” Hinata replied and put and arm around each twin after they climbed on the bed.

A knock came from a door before a familiar head popped into view.

“Hey Shouyo,” Asuna, one of the maids came in with a silver tray. Hinata eyed the delicious steak hungrily.

“Thank you!” the ginger beamed at the blonde even before she got the food to him. Asuna chuckled and put the ginger out of his misery by giving him his precious steak. She turned to the twins and said, “Kaoru, Hikaru. Lunch is ready downstairs.”

The twins complained a bit before reluctantly walking towards the door with a pout followed Asuna. Before the twins’ loud voiced completely disappeared, Kaoru came running back to the door.

“We saw your boyfriend earlier when we arrived from school, nii-chan! He was cool! We approve!” Kaoru chirped, flashing Hinata a thumbs up.

“I do not!” came Hikaru’s voice from down the hall.

Kaoru ran away before Hinata could manage out a word to reply. “You just have to Hikaru!”

Hinata’s… boyfriend?

Could it be that they were talking about…

No way. He couldn’t have been here. Why would he be visiting Hinata in the first place? He didn’t give a damn when pretty much everyone was shooting at him with their harsh words so why now?

Even if he did visit, the guards wouldn’t have let him in anyway.

Unless…

_“We saw your boyfriend earlier when we arrived from school, nii-chan! He was cool! We approve!”_

The twins met him on the way and, recognizing him as ‘Nii-chan’s boyfriend from the arcade,’ they let him in.

 _Of course_.

“Tsukishima you bastard!”

Hinata stabbed the steak with a fork before shoving the food in his mouth.

“I fucking hate you, you confusing asshole!”

The smol angry teen sliced a piece furiously. “You’re such a…You’re such a…”

Hinata didn’t get to finish his sentence when a fresh set of tears trickled down his face. “Why am I even crying?” the latter asked, facing his fork and shaking it.

“Tsukishima had no right… to… be sweet now…” Hiinata angrily wiped his tears, his eyes now twinkling with newly formed determination.

“I am a strong, independent teenage boy! I shall never stumble. Nothing can bring me down—HOLY CRAP A SPIDER. NOPE, NOPE, NOPE. ASUNAAAA!!! FUCK ITS BUTT IS MASSIVE. SOMEONE HELP!!! HELPPPPP!!!!! HEL—SHIT it’s crawling towards me… HELP!!!!”

Now the smol teen abandoned his food to search for a high place. He dashed towards his desk and hopped onto it as if his life depended on it, which… it does actually.

No longer than two minutes later, a bunch of men in black suits burst through the door pointing their guns at different places.

“Release Hinata-san!” one of the men demanded.

They all stopped short when they were greeted by a terrified Hinata perched on his desk, staring at them with wide eyes and pointing at a humongous brown and black arachnid on the floor. The said arachnid was just chilling on the tiled ground, legs spread apart like a goddamn boss. He probably was, what with all the fuss he had caused.

 _Little shit_.

The men lowered their guns and cautiously approached the arachnid. One of them grabbed a book and slammed it as hard as he could at the arachnid.

“Are you alright Hinata-san?” One of them inquired, scanning Hinata’s body for any possible injury.

“I’m…alright,” the smol teen replied, still dazed.

_…What just happened?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to continue buttttttttttttt I realized it was already too long so I decided to stop. Next chapter will be out in a few hours. Drama will ensue. I think.
> 
> Idk I’m just letting the characters do what they want. 
> 
> Disclaimer (that's what it's called right? xD):
> 
> I got the _I'm a fucking hurricane_ idea [here.](https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/399413060686804118/)
> 
>  
> 
> See ya!


	8. Volleyball Dudes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all I am _so sorry_.
> 
> I knew I promised a few hours after the last chapter but holy crap I got into a really serious fight with my best friend. I was halfway into the next chapter when the fight occurred. It wasn't the usual I-hate-you-and-your-crappy-captain-america-socks kind of fight. It was a legit fight between two human beings and it _broke_ me. I literally lost the will to write and everything pretty much sucked and I threw away everything I was excited to write and I just asdfghjkl. It wasn't pleasant. I think it was pretty obvious with the way I wrote this chapter but idk I really hope it didn't show. 
> 
> Enough rant xD
> 
> Here's chapter eight.
> 
> Enjoy!

### Chapter Eight

#### Volleyball Dudes

“And I swear Pandemonium broke out after I screamed for help,” Hinata chuckled lowly, clutching his book to his chest, “The entire rescue team came blasting into my room to find me panicking over a spider. In my defense, the behemoth spider was abnormally humungous.”

Hinata’s head was tilted down, Sugawara noted as he listened to Hinata with complete interest. Apparently, some interesting stuff happened while he was at home yesterday. The silver head surely wished he was there to see it. Actually, he’d preferred staying with Hinata the whole day than having to deal with _Tendou._

Speaking of the red-haired abomination (Okay even Sugawara admitted the term was quite too much) (Wait never mind. Any person who would hurt Sugawara’s precious little small ball of sunshine was pure evil), he was yet to show himself this morning.

Sugawara caught movement from the corner of his eye and turned to see Kageyama wrapping an arm around Hinata’s shoulders, glaring darkly at people.

Now insouciant Kageyama was adorable but _angry_ Kageyama was terrifying, especially because the ravenette couldn’t seem to control his anger when it flared. Sugawara thanked the heavens above that he had never been on the receiving end of it.

Kageyama was seething as his blue eyes darted around the room, glaring at people who gave Hinata nasty looks, eye rolls, and hushed whispers followed by a sneer.

_“I wonder how much he paid those two to become his bodyguards.”_

_“Pfft, as if he has the money for it. He probably offered himself to them.”_

_“Ugh.”_

_“That black-haired guy is hot though.”_

_“Have you seen the other guy with silver hair? He’s totally cute.”_

_What. The. Fuck?_

Where the hell did they get those ideas from?! Hinata offering himself to get bodyguards, are they fucking serious? Who did they think they were?!

Sugawara narrowed his eyes at the two girls. The girls, bimbos that they were, giggled when they met Sugawara’s eyes and waved it him timidly.

“For the sake of everybody, kindly shut the fuck up,” Sugawara remarked with a fake smile, “And he’s my best friend but I doubt you’d actually know what a friend is, anyway.”

With that, Sugawara caught up to his two best friends with a satisfied look on his face.

“You really didn’t have to do that Suga,” Hinata said lowly, eyes scanning the people around him, “You really don’t want to be on their bad side.”

“Nah,” Sugawara disregarded casually and pinched Hinata’s cheek.

“Smile, Sho. You don’t have to be alone now,” Sugawara chimed as he smiled warmly at his best friend. Hinata just smiled nervously, fiddling with the cover of the book he was holding.

“Sugawara-kun!” a voice called from behind Sugawara.

Shit, what did Mr. Laufeyson want now? He liked him, he was pretty cool. But the subject he was teaching? Not so much.

Sugawara just hated History okay?

Sugawara turned towards his best friends. “I’ll catch you later okay? Mr. Laufeyson promised to give me some print-outs to study with that would help me with History,” he explained, patting Kageyama’s arm that was still wrapped protectively around Hinata’s shoulders. After ruffling Hinata’s hair, he jogged towards his History teacher.

“Thank you so much for this Mr. Laufeyson.”

***

Kageyama’s arm dropped from Hinata’s shoulder when they reached his locker. Hinata would be lying if he said the gesture wasn’t reassuring. Somehow, his best friends’ mere presence was enough to make him feel safe.

 “Well, well, well,” An awfully familiar voice reached Hinata’s ears causing him to freeze.

Tendou looms in front of Hinata, tall and daunting, with an evil grin on his face.

“What do we have here?” he started, “A wandering loser.”

Tendou grabbed Hinata’s collar and leveled the ginger’s face with his.

“I wonder what I can do with it,” Tendou taunted, that malevolent grin still plastered on his face. Hinata stared back at the redhead, tensed and frozen.

“What the _fuck_ do you think you’re doing?” Kageyama’s voice sounded from behind Hinata. Tendou looked up at Kageyama, still gripping Hinata’s collar.

“Go away if you know what’s best for you, new kid,” Tendou sneered, silently challenging the blue-eyed teen.

Hinata gave Kageyama a pleading look.

_Just let him be Kageyama. Let him be. You’re better than this._

“Not if it’s my best friend you’re messing with,” Kageyama shot back, voice dangerously calm and steely.

Tendou smirked mockingly at the angered ravenette. “Or what? You’re gonna kick my ass?” the redhead scoffed and rolled his eyes, “As if. You’re all bark and no _bite_.”

That seemed to be the last straw for Kageyama as he forcefully grabbed Tendou’s collar with one hand, making the redhead loosen his grip on Hinata. The smaller teen slipped away from Tendou on instinct, worried eyes darting between the two.

He placed a hand on Kageyama’s arm that was holding Tendou’s collar. “Kageyama, I think you need to calm down,” he tried to soothe Kageyama whose piercing gaze was locked on Tendou’s arrogant form. The seething teen pointedly ignored Hinata’s words as he brought his face closer to Tendou.

Tendou’s glare didn’t falter as he looked back at Kageyama, almost as if daring him to make the first move.

“Listen here you _asshole_ ,” Kageyama hissed, “I don’t care who you are or what you’re capable of. If you so much as _touch_ Hinata again, I will _fucking_ end you.”

Kageyama slammed Tendou against the lockers, smoldering blues glaring at red ones.

“I don’t have the control that Suga has. I _will_ fucking kick your ass the moment you mess with my best friend.”

Without awaiting Tendou’s response, Kageyama abruptly dropped his hold and grabbed Hinata’s arm, pulling him away.

“O-Oi, Kageyama…”

“How long?”

Kageyama spoke up after a few moments of silence.

“Huh?”

Kageyama turned to Hinata, eyes darkened.

“How long has he been doing that to you?” Kageyama asked, patience lacing his voice.

“…Since…”

Hinata wanted to lie. But what was the point? What was he supposed to say? “It started three weeks ago when I messed up my chemistry project and sprayed shit all over the classroom. It wasn’t a fun day for everyone, including Tendou.”

Yeah, no.

“Since I came here, I guess…” Hinata’s voice was barely audible but Kageyama seemed to hear it perfectly as Hinata watched his jaw tighten.

Hinata wrapped his fingers around Kageyama’s arm. “Hey, it’s okay Kageyama, really.”

Kageyama turned his gaze towards Hinata. “No Hinata, it’s not okay and you know it!” he snapped causing Hinata to wince.

Yeah, pissed Kageyama was not exactly pleasant to talk to.

Kageyama’s eyes softened as he grabbed Hinata’s shoulders. “If only we had tracked you sooner…”

**_RINNGGGGGGG_ **

The sound of the bell ringing reverberated around the halls, signifying the start of the first period which meant they really had to hurry the hell up if they didn’t want to end up giving a goddamn speech in front of the whole class about why they were late.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hinata walked into the classroom with a sigh of relief. He knew there was still time before the second bell rings. He just wanted to arrive a few minutes early, that’s all.

As he made his way towards his seat, he passed by Tsukishima who was… giving him the darkest glare ever.

Okay…?

What the fuck did Hinata do now? Seriously, what was his problem? What was _their_ problem?

Hinata rolled his eyes and hurried towards his desk.

_What crawled up his ass and_ died _?_

Hinata adjusted his glasses and rested his head on his palm, lightly drumming his fingers on his desk.

Something was definitely wrong with that telephone pole idiot.

_No shit._

But the question was, why direct it at Hinata? Why was he at fault? Those metaphorical daggers shooting at him earlier was solid proof.

His eyes landed on the brooding blond again. At least he wasn’t looking at Hinata now. He had his headphones on, completely tuning out the world and all of its bullshit.

Hinata sighed deeply and shook his head. You know what? Fuck him.

That’s right. _Fuck. Him._

Fuck him and his attitude, fuck him and those damn philosophical jigsaw puzzle metaphors about him, fuck him and his barrels of insouciance and zero-fuck façade and fuck that face for being so fucking attractive—what the fuck. He did _not_ just say that.

_Argh._

It was true though.

_Argh. Shut up._

Why was he putting so much thought into this, again? Tsukishima had probably already thrown Hinata into his mental recycle bin.

His thoughts were cut off by Mr. Brunner sauntering into the room.

“Okay class,” came his usual cheery voice, “You better be ready for that test I promised yesterday.”

What…?

_I didn’t know there was going to be a test!!!_

_Fml._

***

“So I read this story. The girl apparently had **Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy** *. It’s some kind of heart disease or something. Everyone else, except for her parents who knew about her disease, played it off as ulcer so they were all pretty chill about it. Well not completely _chill_ but, you know, they didn’t treat her as if she only had two weeks left to live. I really thought they were all going to live happily ever after,” Sugawara sniffled, “The girl died in the end and a year later, during her first death anniversary, her guy decided to follow her, if you know what I mean.”

“Umm…” Hinata honestly didn’t know what to reply to Sugawara who was on the verge of tears.

“You know that moment when there’s that big _‘Major Character Death’_ warning and some tags saying, _ANGST, major angst, wtf have I done, Character Death, shitload of angst_ but you still read it anyway? Too bad books don’t have tags and archive warnings!” Sugawara wailed.

“There, there Suga,” Hinata awkwardly comforted the miserable silver-haired teen. Sugawara was the biggest bookworm of the three. Hinata read books here and there and maybe some fics and posts about them on tumblr. But Sugawara was _obsessed_. He often stayed up late reading fanfiction in the dark, snickering and muttering to himself with a light shade of pink dusting his cheeks.

_“It begins. *dark chuckle*”_

_“AAAAaaaaAAaaAAaaAaaaHhhhhHHH….!”_

_“Percy don’t do it.”_

_“No fucking way!”_

_“Just kiss already!”_

_“OHOHOHOHO.”_

_“Oh the fluffffff!”_

_“My poor fanboy heart…!”_

_“Boo notp.”_

_“*chokes*”_

Hinata had already caught him covering his southern area with a pillow, smiling giddily while biting his lower lip way too many times.

There was that one time Kageyama finally asked him what the hell he was doing on his phone.

_“Oh um… Buzzfeed article.”_

Suuuure, Suga.

The three were on their way towards the cafeteria. This time Kageyama’s arm was slung lazily around Hinata’s shoulders, _again_. He tried to remove the arm earlier but Kageyama just scoffed and held him closer.

So here he was, stuck in between his two best friends. One was gushing about random things at full speed and the other looked bored out of his mind.

They got their food and sat together in comfortable silence in favor of finally getting to devour precious food after hours of being imprisoned in multiple disguised four-wall cells.

That is until the Huns arrived.

“Hey hey hey! Shrimpy is here!”

“Ooohh Hinata Shouyou right?”

“Hello, lovelies!”

“I regret my life decisions…”

“ _I’m_ sitting next to Akaashi, Shittykawa!”

“Captain, over here!”

“Oh God…” Sugawara grumbled, facepalming.

“Kou-chan, Tobio-chan, Shrimpy-chan,” Oikawa greeted them one by one with a bright smile on his face and sat down next to Iwaizumi and across Kageyama. Iwaizumi sat next to the brunet with Akaashi settling himself next to him. Bokuto planted his butt next to Sugawara and of course, Kuroo sat next to Bokuto.

“Hello there,” A voice greeted them.

Daichi sat next to Akaashi and placed his tray on the table.

Umm… What was happening?

Hinata cast Sugawara a confused glance who looked at the intruders with a blank face.

“What are you all doing here?” Sugawara asked rudely.

“Don’t you want us here, Kou-chan?” Oikawa pouted adorably at Sugawara who only stared at him blankly.

“No, not really,” Hinata’s silver-haired friend deadpanned, “And how did you even know our first names?”

“Sources, Kou-chan, _sources_ ,” Oikawa stated wisely. The latter turned to Hinata, who still looked puzzled.

He absolutely had no idea what was going on. What exactly happened yesterday during Hinata’s absence?

“Hello, Shrimpy-chan!” Oikawa greeted Hinata with a small wave.

Hinata raised his hand in an attempt to wave back. “Hello…” he replied unsurely.

Just the day before yesterday, Hinata was storming out of the cafeteria, clearly unwanted by the people there. If it wasn’t for Kageyama jogging towards Hinata and practically dragging him wordlessly to the cafeteria, he would’ve just happily settled for eating in the library just like what he had been doing ever since he transferred.

But then again, he didn’t really see these people the other day.

He remembered Jenny’s conversation with some girls the other day. She mentioned something about Kuroo eating with his teammates?

He let his eyes wander around and eye the people he was currently sitting with one by one.

Oikawa Tooru was the childish guy with brown hair and brown eyes. Jersey number 3, setter. He seemed to have a strange obsession with aliens. He claimed to be Iwaizumi’s ‘number one bestest friend ever.’

Iwaizumi Hajime was the tanned muscular guy with spiky black hair. Jersey number 8, Wing Spiker. He was really grumpy but even Hinata could notice how he looked at Akaashi. Rumour had it that the grumpy spiker also had this crush on Kenma. Whatttt.

Akaashi Keiji was the prettiest guy Hinata had ever met. Really, he was. Jersey number 5, Pinch Server. He was really quiet and the guy wore a blank face most of the time. Bokuto seemed to like him though. Hinata heard Bokuto’s parents took in Akaashi when he was little.

Kuroo Tetsurou was the guy with unruly jet black hair and feline eyes. Jersey number 2, Co-captain and Middle Blocker. Hinata would be lying if he said he didn’t find Kuroo extremely hot. He was currently in a relationship with Bokuto.

Bokuto Koutarou was the hyperactive guy with the owl hair and seemingly permanent hooded eyes. Jersey number 4, Wing Spiker and the volleyball team’s ace. He was obnoxiously loud and really funny, too. He had been in a relationship with Kuroo for two years.

Daichi Sawamura was the guy with brown hair and a friendly smile. Out of all of them, Daichi seemed to be the most tolerable and, dare he say it, _sane._ Jersey number 1, Wing Spiker, Defensive Specialist _and_ captain of the team. He was said to be the most reliable person on the court. But the captain hid a scary monster behind those smiles and comforting congratulatory pats on the shoulder, only triggered by immense anger, or so Hinata heard.

“Oh, who is this?” the captain of the volleyball team kindly asked, gesturing to Hinata with curious brown eyes.

“Dadchi, this is Hinata Shouyou, Kou-chan and Tobio-chan’s best friend,” Oikawa introduced with a really bright smile on his face. Was Oikawa usually this… happy?

And honestly, it kinda freaked Hinata out how _Oikawa Tooru_ knew his name and how the said brunet introduced Hinata to Daichi for him.

Daichi seemed to ignore Oikawa’s nickname for him and smiled welcomingly at Hinata. “Nice to meet you Hinata. I’m Daichi Sawamura. Sorry about my teammates. They’re kind of a handful,” Daichi stated sheepishly.

“Hey!”

“Pfft, you love us.”

Kuroo and Bokuto reacted simultaneously to their captain’s statement.

“Ohohoho! Is that Tsukki... and Tendou?” Bokuto wondered out loud as he turned to the general direction of the aforementioned two.

Hinata’s gaze snapped to them almost immediately.

_Tsukishima_

Hinata hadn’t spoken to him since the other day. It seemed like a long time to the small ginger. He often wondered what the hell he did to make Tsukishima suddenly cast a thick wall between them. The tall blond seemed fine that morning. So what changed his mood?

Hinata decided it was useless to ponder over it now. Maybe he would confront Tsukishima later or something, talk things out between them. But not now.

_Not yet._

“Oi Tsukki, Tendou!” Kuroo regarded the duo, gesturing them over.

Oh shit.

Hinata honestly couldn’t choose who was worse to sit with between the two.

“Kageyama…!” Sugawara whispered loudly, gaining Kageyama’s attention. The silverhead gave the ravenette an indecipherable look to which the latter nodded and turned away from Sugawara.

“What was that?” Hinata inquired, elbowing Sugawara’s side softly. Sugawara’s lips stretched into a grin before biting his lower lip to try to suppress his smile. “Oh nothing,” he stated vaguely.

Now Hinata was curious. What was behind that silent conversation between his two best friends?

Hinata decided to shrug it off for now and returned his attention to the two approaching figures. Well, only one was walking towards their table, the other practically being dragged by Tendou.

“I hate that I have no choice but to sit with you,” Tendou snapped, giving Sugawara a nasty look before turning towards Kuroo, “Why did you have to befriend them of all people?”

Befriend? Since when were Kuroo, Sugawara and Kageyama friends? And how _did_ they become friends? Hinata was lost. Those two seriously owed him an explanation.

“Oh stop being a miserable teenager and be friendly for once will you?” Kuroo replied with an eye roll.

“Whatever.” Tendou grumbled before forcing Tsukishima to sit on the chair next to Daichi and settling himself beside Bokuto across Tsukishima.

“Sooooooooo, Tsukki,” Kuroo started with a grin, “Have you decided yet?”

Kuroo’s statement caught the others’ attention, causing them to stop their chatter and focus on the blond. Hinata shifted awkwardly in his seat. He was never close with these people, or anyone in his school for that matter (maybe except for Kenma). Hinata still couldn’t believe he was suddenly sitting with them and being welcome to join in on their conversations. This wasn’t exactly making Hinata comfortable at all. But his two best friends were with him so at least he could live with it for a few minutes. He still couldn’t help being tense though.

He remembered his last encounter with them about a week ago. You know, when Hinata wasn’t _eavesdropping_ on their conversation and hiding behind lockers like a total loser.

**_“H…Hi… Um… Have you seen Tsukishima? I kind of owe him for… erm… something…”_ **

**_Hinata cursed himself for stuttering. That was so embarrassing!_ **

**_Oikawa only grinned happily at him and put a finger on his chin. “Hmm… I kind of remember him telling Iwa-chan he won’t make it to school today. He didn’t say why though! Tsukki is just mysterious like that. I remember him being…” Oikawa started to rant but then Kuroo put a hand on his face to effectively shut him up._ **

**_“Yeah, sorry. Oikawa’s always like this. Tsukishima won’t be here today because of a cold. Is there anything you want us to tell him for you?” Kuroo supplied, shooting Oikawa a scolding look quite similar to a mother’s and Hinata a sheepish look._ **

**_Hinata shook his head. “That won’t be necessary Kuroo-san. Thanks though,” Hinata declined politely and walked away but before Kuroo and Oikawa left his hearing distance, he heard Kuroo mutter something._ **

**_“So_ ** **that’s _Hinata Shouyou…”_**

**_“You mean Tsukki’s—mmph!”_ **

**_“Ssshhh! Tsukishima will have our heads if he finds out we talked about_ ** **it _.”_**

**_“Alright, sshh it is then.”_ **

_Scandalous_.

Kageyama, damn him, suddenly wrapped an arm around Hinata and leaned in close to his ear. “Relax, Dumbass. You look like you need to take a shit,” the blue-eyed teen whispered.

Hinata spluttered and blushed in embarrassment at Kageyama’s statement. He _did not_ just say that. Stupid Bakageyama.

“These people are actually quite nice, except for that annoying bastard over there,” Kageyama added, nodding towards Tendou’s general direction.

Hinata raised an eyebrow at Kageyama whose face, by the way, was way too close to Hinata’s. It wasn’t making Hinata uncomfortable so he didn’t make a move to push him away. Things like this weren’t uncommon for the three. Heck, they even slept together on the same bed and cuddled. Hinata also remembered taking baths with Kageyama as a kid but he wasn’t about to reminisce about those embarrassing stuff. Now that he thought about it, he really _did_ have lots of cringe-worthy memories with Kageyama back then before they met Sugawara.

_Ugh, stop_.

Hinata almost visibly cringed at the random memory of Kageyama and him acting as if they were pirates and knocking on different people’s doors screaming, “Aye! Surrender your food!”

“Since when are you guys friends?” Hinata asked, curiously eyeing Kageyama.

Kageyama shrugged and let Hinata go to focus on his food.

“I told you, Kuroo, I refuse to join your team.”

Tsukishima’s cold, impassive voice caused Hinata’s gaze to dart towards him. Hinata found a pair of golden eyes, devoid of emotion, drilling into him before snapping back to Kuroo.

“But you’re tall! You’re perfect for defense!” Bokuto insisted, giving the blond his best attempt at puppy-eyes.

It didn’t seem to work when Tsukishima rolled his eyes and proceeded to eat his lunch.

“ _No_.”

“Come on Kei-chan. For me?” Oikawa pouted adorably at the male to which Tsukishima grunted and muttered a low, “ _I said no.”_

“Please?”

“No.”

“Do you want to at least try? Just for a few minutes. Maybe you’ll like it,” Daichi encouraged and gave Tsukishima a smile.

No way he could reject a friendly suggestion from Daichi, right?

“No.”

Oh. Well, then.

“You won’t know unless you try Kei-chan.”

“No.”

“Pleaseeeeeee.”

“No.”

“I’ll treat you to lunch for a week.”

“No, Kuroo.”

“Two weeks?”

“No.”

“A _month_.”

“ _No._ ”

 “I’ll give you a kiss!”

“Ugh who would want a kiss from you Bokuto?”

“Iwa-chan, don’t me mean. I’d like a kiss from you Fuku-chan!”

“As if I’d let you, Oikawa!”

“Awww is Tetsu-chan a little territorial of his Omega?”

“My what?”

“No way! _I’m_ the Alpha in this relationship.”

“Bo what the hell are you talking about?”

“That means you’re bottom Tetsu-chan.”

“What?!”

“Babe, you _are_ the bottom.”

“Guys!”

“Huh? What’s wrong Daichi?”

“Why did I join you idiots again?”

“You know you love us Keiji-kun!”

“Guys, please!”

“What?”

“Oh. Oh! So you don’t want a kiss from me Tsukki?”

Tsukishima sighed exasperatedly and glared pointedly at Bokuto. “No, Bokuto. I don’t want a kiss from you.”

“How about Akaashi? Everyone wants a kiss from Akaashi,” Bokuto offered excitedly. Iwaizumi almost choked on his chicken sandwich and glared menacingly at Bokuto. “Leave Akaashi out of this.”

Wow, they were really desperate for members, weren’t they? Hinata glanced at Tendou, remembering that particular conversation he had overheard while hiding behind a set of lockers. The redhead was uncharacteristically silent, eating his lunch and professionally ignoring the banter between his ex-teammates. He was probably used to this.

“I got it!” Kuroo suddenly exclaimed.

“You’ve got something in mind babe?”

“Oohhh what is it Tetsu-kun?”

“Hn.”

Kuroo’s lips curved up into a Cheshire cat grin, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“What if Hinata joined?”

Hinata’s head snapped towards Kuroo so quickly he was surprised he didn’t get a whiplash. Um, what?

“What?” Sugawara deadpanned, his hand freezing midair before he got to toss a fry into his mouth. 

“Tetsu-kun, you’re evil,” Oikawa chuckled as he leaned his head on Iwaizumi’s shoulder.

Tsukishima was glaring daggers at Kuroo behind his glasses.

_Huh._

“What?” Kuroo responded innocently, “Worth a shot.”

“You know how to play volleyball Hinata?!” Bokuto enthusiastically asked the confused ginger, practically bouncing in his seat.

“Um…”

How did Hinata get into this? What did Hinata have to do with Tsukishima joining their volleyball team? Things were happening too quickly Hinata barely had the time to process them all.

First the volleyball team, known throughout the school for their impossibly attractive members (Pfft, why else would they be popular? It wasn’t like girls gush about Nishinoya’s nice save or Iwaizumi’s unexpected dump or Oikawa’s impressive setting skills. Most of them only wanted to date the players not only because they were hot but also because they _were_ from the team), decided to sit with Sugawara, Kageyama and him. Next, he found himself suddenly involved in their conversation. Then there was that thing Kuroo had inquired Tsukishima about—joining the team if Hinata did. Seriously, what was that about? Finally, there was Bokuto talking, _actually talking_ , to Hinata without sneering or snarling or any other nasty look. In fact, Bokuto looked so excited and innocent Hinata thought it was precious. 

Hinata glanced at Daichi. He was the captain. What did he have to say about any of this? But Daichi looked as confused as Hinata. Probably because of the mere fact that Kuroo involved Hinata in making Tsukishima join the team.

Again, what did Hinata have to do with any of this?

Oh, shit. Did Kuroo know about that thing in the infirmary? Tsukishima’s actions last week? The arcade thing? _Tsukishima and him_?

Was there a ‘Tsukishima and him’ anyway?

Hinata inwardly sighed. Sometimes he just wished he could just fly somewhere, _anywhere_ , where no one could find him and do whatever the hell he wanted. He could watch TV all day, play video games all day, read all day, and, oh gods, _sleep all day_. No drama, no demonic school work, no annoying humans and no Tsukishima. Just him. Maybe his best friends as well, if they’re up for it, which they definitely would. The three of them, being the lazy ass that they were and no one would nag at them for it.

“Leave the poor guy alone Bokuto. Not everyone can deal with your crazy,” Akaashi spoke up, trying to calm the beaming owl-head.

“Hinata is Sugawara and Kageyama’s best friend right? He’s going to be where the two will be so we should get to know him more,” Kuroo chimed in.

“He’s right! We share multiple classes together and yet, I never got to talk to him. Please don’t be shy Hinata! I really want to know you better.” Bokuto all but exclaimed at Hinata earning a slightly horrified look from the ginger.

Oh gods. Socializing. _People_.

Sugawara draped himself over Hinata, well as much as he could while sitting, looking at Bokuto over his shoulder.

“Don’t worry Sho! I’ll shield you from him!” Sugawara declared earning an offended pout from Bokuto.

Hinata heaved a deep sigh. At least this was way, _way_ better than people snapping obscenities at him right?

***

Hinata entered his first class for this afternoon, absentmindedly fiddling with his phone when a loud voice called him over.

“Hey hey hey, it’s Hinata!” Bokuto waved at him obnoxiously from his seat, causing a few peering heads to turn towards the embarrassed ginger’s direction.

Oh gods, must he really? Was this going to be a normal thing now? Hinata didn’t know whether he should be embarrassed or happy. Maybe both.

Kuroo smacked Bokuto upside the head. “Inside voice, Bo! That’s why he would always avoid you whenever you try to talk to him,” Kuroo chastised, shooting Bokuto a scolding look.

Hinata shimmied his way towards his seat as subtly as possible while the couple argued. Don’t get him wrong, Hinata was really, _really_ happy that people other than Kenma and his best friends were actually regarding Hinata with a positive look. No insults, no punches, no mean pranks, and no sarcastic laughs. They were actually greeting him. Sure Bokuto was loud and obnoxious but he was friendly, unlike his red-haired asshole of a friend.

How should he react when they greet him though? Should he wave? Maybe offer them a smile or greet back? Was there a guide for this stuff? A ‘Help’ button?

_How the hell do you function in society?_

Bokuto suddenly grabbed Kuroo’s face and slammed his lips into Kuroo’s, effectively shutting him up.

“Did you really have to do that?” Kuroo asked the owl-head after pulling away.

“Uh, yeah. Anyway, I told you, it’s friendlier that way,” Bokuto continued to argue.

Kuroo sighed, submitting to Bokuto with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Fine, whatever.”

Hinata couldn’t help but smile at the two. They weren’t the perfect couple, but obviously, they were the most suitable pair. They argued over the smallest of things and just made up right after as if nothing happened. Hinata couldn’t stop the pang of jealousy creeping its way into his chest. A strong relationship like that usually took a long time to build. You could see how they looked at each other. Kuroo often gazed at Bokuto with this look in his eyes when the other wasn’t looking, that look of irrevocable affection saying, “I don’t know if I really deserve this guy but I sure as hell am not complaining.” And Bokuto, don’t get him started on Bokuto.

They must have gone through the toughest shit to get there. Hinata doubted he would find someone like them.

 

 

 

The bell rang, indicating the end of class for the day.

“The bell does not dismiss you. I do,” Mrs. Umbridge snapped, sharp gaze wandering around the class. A series of groans of protest could be heard around the room as the old bat wrote a few things on the board.

Hinata slowly put his notebook and pen in his bag, as if the smallest of movements might catch the dragon’s attention and snap its jaws at Hinata.

“This will be due on Tuesday next week so you better work on it as soon as possible—Ms. La Rue kindly spit out that gum! Chewing it while someone is speaking in front is rude.”

The girl rolled her eyes when Mrs. Umbridge turned her back and did nothing to follow her demands and continued to chew the gum.

_You go, Ms. La Rue._

“You’re dismissed.”

_Thank the gods above._

Hinata was seriously about to strangle someone if the extra minutes he spent in that room stretched further.

Sugawara grabbed his hand and dragged him outside yelling, “Freedom!”

“I really hate her. She’s so damn annoying,” Sugawara stated with a frown.

“I second that…” Hinata muttered under his breath as he took out his phone and checked for any messages from his dad. He received a text less than two hours earlier saying that the twins got into a fight and got seriously injured so they had to be rushed to the hospital. Hinata responded with a shit ton of replies asking if they were okay and how the hell did they get into a fight.

As if on cue, his phone trilled, signifying a new text message.

**[Dad]**

_They’re fine now, don’t worry. They’re at home playing video games._

Hinata let out a sigh of relief and typed in a reply.

**[Shouyou]**

_Right. Ok. Thanks for letting me know dad._

Hinata heard Sugawara sigh beside him.

“Kageyama’s lost. _Again_ ,” Sugawara informed Hinata, “Now he’s calling. Kageyama Tobio, why can’t you follow simple directions?... No shit, Sherlock. I can see that… Yeah, Hinata’s with me. We have Physics together, remember?... Yeah, he’s fine you dork… I can kick Tendou’s ass anytime!... We’re coming to get you. Where are you anyway?... Okay. Behave, alright?... Yeah, yeah, whatever…”

Sugawara ended the call with a huff. “Come on, Sho. Before he gets distracted and follows random people again.”

Hinata was about to follow Sugawara when his phone vibrated in his pocket again. His eyebrows furrowed when he read the name of the person he had least expected he’d get a text from.

**[Tsukishima]**

_Meet me at the rooftop._

"Um, Suga?"

Sugawara turned to look at Hinata. "What is it?"

"You go on ahead. I'll meet you guys later."

Sugawara eyed the ginger questioningly. "What's it about?"

Hinata chuckled nervously. "Oh you know, this and that," he answered vaguely. The silverhead narrowed his eyes at his best friend before shrugging and turning away.

"Okay, but don't take too long."

"Of course."

Hinata sighed when Sugawara disappeared from sight and glanced at the message again.

Dammit, Tsukishima.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayeee we just made up recently and yes, it was that bad. There was one thing I learned this past two weeks(?). Don't take friendships for granted. Almost losing my best friend made me realize that. Oh and don't let pride cloud your judgment. That makes two. Apologize, even if you know you're not at fault. You might have done something you didn't know was wrong or else they wouldn't be mad at you in the first place. It might be some stupid, nonsense stuff but, still, be the bigger person and learn how to compromise. They might learn a thing or two from you.
> 
> Anywayyyyy, THE NEW EPISODE OF SNK WAS AWESOME AAAAAAAAAA I CAN'T WAIT FOR MONDAY
> 
> I refuse to say more in case some of you here haven't watched it yet. x) Go and watch it!!!
> 
> See you all later fellow trash dwellers xD


	9. Rooftops and Late Nights Snacks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know I was thinking (I know, _dangerous_ ), a week between updates seems really long so maybe I should cut it to three or four days or something. Yeah, I should try that. 
> 
> Anyway, I BRING CHAPTER NINE.
> 
> Enjoy!

### Chapter Nine

#### Rooftops and Late Night Snacks

**[Tsukishima]**

_Meet me at the rooftop._

Hinata went over the text message again, contemplating on whether he should ignore the message and carry on with his life _or_ go to where Tsukishima had asked them to meet and just get it over with.

Should he?

The ginger sighed deeply and pocketed his phone.

He should.

He was planning on confronting Tsukishima anyway so why not now right? He’d procrastinate anyway and end up never talking to Tsukishima about the matter, whatever the matter was.

He already told Sugawara to head home without him, saying he had to meet someone. Needless to say Sugawara obliged after being ushered away by Hinata when the silver head asked who the person was but not before giving Hinata a look that obviously said ‘We’ll talk about this later.’

He looked back once more at Sugawara’s retreating back and made a beeline for the usually empty staff room that led to the rooftop. He slid open the door to the stairs and stared at the darkness that would eventually lead to their rendezvous point. Hinata was about to take a step up when he smelled something funny. He took a whiff of the air and frowned. The air smelled like smoke, cigarette smoke.

“Don’t bother.”

Hinata’s very soul almost got separated from his body in fright when he suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice speak in the quietness of the room. He turned to his right and saw a boy leaning on the wall, hidden among the shadows the stairs provided. Hinata couldn’t make out the boy’s features really well due to the poor lighting but he did manage to catch a glimpse of the freckles dusting the boy’s cheeks. The boy exhaled a puff of smoke and eyed Hinata with a bored look. “There’s a guy up there. Refuses to have anyone else,” the guy said with a scoff, “Wants ultimate privacy.”

“Um…”

Hinata wanted to point out that smoking within school grounds was strictly prohibited but it wasn’t his business anyway so he bit back his words and opted for a small smile instead.

The guy held out his hand to Hinata, his cigarette held between his index and middle finger in his other hand. “The name’s Yamaguchi, by the way. Yamaguchi Tadashi.”

Hinata tentatively shook the guy’s hand. He’d never heard of the name Yamaguchi Tadashi before. But then again Hinata wasn’t exactly the type of person to mingle. “Hinata Shoyou.”

The guy, Yamaguchi, nodded his head towards the stairs. “Unless you know the guy up there, I suggest you walk you away now. He’s quite the asshole.”

_He’s quite the asshole_.

“Do you… know him?” Hinata asked the guy slowly.

Yamaguchi grinned at Hinata. “Do I know him?”

The brunet leaned forward a bit, the grin still on his face and eyes darting towards the door on top of the stairs. “I grew up with him.”

Hinata’s eyes widened a bit, his mouth formed into an ‘o’ shape. So was this guy Tsukishima’s best friend, or something? Hinata didn’t think Tsukishima was the type to have… _rebellious_ friends. Hinata mentally scolded himself. He shouldn’t really judge. Maybe there was more to Yamaguchi than meets the eye?

Well whatever it was, Hinata didn’t have the time to ponder over it because he still had an ‘asshole’ to tend to.

“Tsukishima told me to meet him there so…” Hinata trailed off, giving Yamaguchi a sheepish smile.

“Ooohhh,” Yamaguchi seemed to realize something, “Hinata Shoyou, of course! Up you go, then.”

“Okay…”

Hinata’s nerves grew the closer he got to the door that separated him and Tsukishima. Why the hell was he nervous? It wasn’t like he did something wrong, right? Maybe it was just apprehension. Maybe.

He took a deep breath and twisted the knob.

_Welcome to Hogwarts._

“Hinata.”

_Not._

“Tsukishima,” Hinata greeted back stiffly.

The tall blond was leaning on the metal screen with his hands in his pockets, eyeing Hinata with those amber orbs of his. Hinata closed the door behind him and crossed his arms with an expectant look. “Well?”

Tsukishima pushed himself away from the screen and sauntered over to Hinata who eyed the taller cautiously. The tall blond was close enough when he asked, “Who was that guy?”

Hinata’s eyebrows dipped into a frown. “What guy?”

Tsukishima’s eye twitched. “Don’t play dumb with me Hinata. You know who I’m talking about.”

_Don’t play dumb with me Hinata_.

Hinata wanted to roll on the ground screaming when Tsukishima said his name but refrained from doing so because that wouldn’t be an appropriate sight for the current matter.

Definitely not.

“I honestly don’t,” Hinata responded patiently, “Enlighten me.”

Tsukishima sighed and looked to his side as if avoiding Hinata’s gaze. “That blue-eyed… guy…” Tsukishima muttered so softly Hinata wouldn’t have heard it if he wasn’t as close as he was now.

Hinata’s eyes widened a little in recognition. “Ohhh.”

The ginger had the ghost of a smile on his lips as he stared up at the boy in front of him. He tried to stifle a laugh by covering his mouth with his fist but failed when a snort came out. He couldn’t help it! Tsukishima called him over here (well, texted) to ask him about Kageyama? Why?

Hinata mentally gasped.

Did he have a _crush_ on Hinata’s raven best friend?

“He is quite attractive,” Hinata said mostly to himself in agreement to his realization about Tsukishima while imagining said best friend, “Really attractive, actually.”

Now that Hinata thought about it, yes, Kageyama was actually really attractive. He’d even go as far as to call him _hot_. Not that Hinata was somehow attracted to the grumpy blue-eyed teen or anything! Ew.

Tsukishima’s gaze seemed to harden as he stared down at Hinata with emotionless eyes. “Okay,” the blond simply stated as he started to make his way around Hinata towards the door.

Hinata frowned at Tsukishima’s reaction. Okay, that wasn’t what he expected.

Before Tsukishima could open the door, Hinata grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. “Alright, that’s it. I’m just gonna go and say it,” Hinata took a deep breath, “What the _fuck_ is wrong with you? And I’m not just talking about the conversation we had just then. I know that you know what I mean. You’ve been a total jerk to me suddenly, ignoring me like the plague, giving me the nastiest looks and now you suddenly decided to want to talk to me only to just give me a goddamn _okay_ and walk away?”

Hinata aimed the sharpest glare he could manage at Tsukishima, gazing at him dead in the eye and tightening his grip on the blond’s wrist. Hinata’s rage was resurfacing in the form of words and there was no way could stop them from flowing right out of his mouth.

“What the hell did I ever do to you? You fucking betrayed me back there. ‘I’ll be there’ my ass. Was it all just for fun, huh? Was it all just a fucking game to you? And now.. now you actually decided to talk to me. Oh wait, you just wanted to ask about my best friend, silly me. I thought you were different from that asshole, treating people like shit. You might as well be one of _them_. Go ahead,” Hinata didn’t notice the warm tears slowly streaming down his face as his glare faltered, finding it hard to breath suddenly, “Call me a loser, a good-for-nothing piece of shit, trash, garbage, pretentious twat, ugly ass motherfucker, arrogant little… little shit… Hinata fucking… Shoyou… Why the fuck… Why the fuck are you even alive?”

Hinata was full-out sobbing now like the pathetic human being that he was. That was what he was, wasn’t it? _Pathetic_. Hinata tried to hug himself, overwhelmed by the wave of pain spreading through his chest, making it hard to breathe. “I’m…s..sorry if I’m like this… I can’t help it though… This is… who I am… Why can’t you people… just accept that…? I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

Hinata wanted to scream, kick things and punch the hell out of Tsukishima. But at the same time he was _tired_. Tired of everything and everyone and just… exhausted. He felt physically weak. Like a really heavy load was dragging him down and he had no power to stop it, much less pull it up. He didn’t care if Tsukishima saw him sob like a kid.

_“Just because you’re crying doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means you’ve held on for so long.”_

_“R..Really, mom?”_

_“Yes, Shoyou.”_

Suddenly, he felt a pair of arms around him, filling him with warmth and unspoken reassurance. Hinata stilled as he processed what was happening. Tsukishima was hugging him. He was comforting Hinata.

Why?

What was he doing?

Why was he doing this?

Hinata pushed against his chest, trying to get him off but Tsukishima’s grip on the ginger was tightening. With one hand, the blond pushed Hinata’s head to his chest, the other arm circling around the little ginger. He felt the taller nuzzle his hair, taking in the scent of those orange locks still held together by gel. Slowly, Hinata dropped his hands to his side and as he tried to stop his tears from falling. Traitors, the lot of them. They just couldn’t stop flowing down, could they?

Tsukishima let go of Hinata’s head and looked down at him.

“Wh..Why?” Hinata managed to let out.

Tsukishima didn’t respond. Instead, he removed Hinata’s glasses, a soft look finally lacing his eyes. With his other hand, he tried to wipe away the tears from Hinata’s face, gently wiping his thumb below his eyes. Big, glistening, honey-brown stared at soft, amber eyes as Hinata calmed down to a sniffle.

“You’re beautiful.”

Hinata’s eyes widened at Tsukishima’s statement. Hinata felt his heart rate pick up as the blond went to cup Hinata’s cheek.

No… He couldn’t just… He couldn’t just say things like that! Not after what he’d done. Not after everything he did to Hinata. He might just do it again!

Hinata tried to push Tsukishima again with more force this time but the other was bigger and stronger compared to Hinata’s petite stature.

The blond held Hinata by the waist and pulled him even closer. “I’m sorry Hinata…”

The way Tsukishima said it… It was as if there was an underlying mass of emotions beneath the sincerity and calmness of his voice. Hinata could detect a tinge of pain, strain and… sadness. Why was Tsukishima sad? What was he hiding?

“Why?” Hinata inquired softly as he stared up at Tsukishima’s face.

“I…” Tsukishima’s voice was strained as if stopping took a huge amount of self-control.

The blond shook his head and pushed Hinata’s face to his chest gently and placed his chin on Hinata’s head. “I’m sorry…”

The ginger sighed and wrapped his fingers around Tsukishima’s arm as a signal to back off but the taller only wrapped both of his arms around Hinata’s waist and hugged him tightly. “Please, Hinata. Just this once…” the blond whispered.

Tsukishima sounded uncharacteristically… pained.

_Why, Tsukishima? What could you possibly be hiding?_

“What about Kageyama?” Hinata asked.

Tsukishima seemed to stiffen at the mention of the ravenette’s name.

“Do you… like him?” Tsukishima countered Hinata’s question.

Hinata’s eyebrows furrowed. What kind of question was that? Actually, Hinata was the one who was supposed to ask Tsukishima that.

“What? No. Why would you think that?”

“You mean,” Tsukishima let Hinata go and stared at him with slightly wide eyes, “You’re not together?”

Hinata cringed at the thought of Kageyama and him being together. “Ugh, no.”

There were guys for romantic relationships and there were also ones for platonic relationships. NOT EVERY FISH IN THE SEA COULD BE EATEN. Some were meant to stay in aquariums and be admired by people.

Wow, okay that was seriously a messed up analogy.

“You two… seem so close…” Tsukishima pointed out, looking at everywhere _except_ Hinata.

Okay…?

Hinata rolled his eyes. “We grew up together. We’re practically brothers. He’s been my best friend long since I can remember.”

Tsukishima had this adorable almost-pout on his face that nearly made Hinata want to pinch his cheeks.

_Nearly_.

“Do you... Do you want me to talk to him for you?” Hinata asked tentatively as he gazed at Tsukishima.

“What? Why would I want to talk to him?”

“But I thought you…” Hinata stopped mid-sentence.

So Tsukishima _didn’t_ have a crush on Kageyama?

But…

Wait a minute…

The nasty glares, his reaction to Kageyama’s name, asking who Kageyama was.

A shit eating grin made its way on Hinata’s face. “Are you jealous?”

“No,” Tsukishima returned his grin with a blank face. At least that’s what it looked like except for that faint red dusting his cheeks.

Hinata’s face shifted quickly into a serious one as he eyed the blond. “Tsukishima… Why are you so confusing? You go and say nice things, then be an asshole after and then revert back to being nice. You refuse to explain anything and… I have feelings too, you know…” Hinata said as he took a small step back.

“You know what? I don’t care why you did what you did in the cafeteria. Sure, it hurt like hell and I felt so betrayed but I’m sure you had a legitimate reason, right? Judging by your reaction when I asked you about it, you’re keeping something you refuse to tell anyone and I understand that. I just want to know one thing,” Hinata gave the blond a pleading look, “Why me?”

“Is this some sort of messed up form of entertainment for you? Is it because you think I’m pitiful? Or was all this a dare? Because, Tsukishima,” Hinata looked up, tears starting to pool in his eyes, “I don’t think I could take it.”

All it took was a second.

Next thing Hinata knew he was backed up against the wall, staring wide-eyed at Tsukishima who had his right hand planted firmly on the wall next to Hinata’s head and head tilted down leaning slightly to the right, looking at Hinata with smoldering amber orbs. Their faces were inches apart, Hinata noted.

_Close. Too close_.

He could feel Tsukishima’s warm breath as he gazed back up at the taller.

“Hinata,” Tsukishima’s voice was deep and husky it almost made Hinata go mush, “You have no idea, do you?”

Hinata glared up at the blond. “Oh yeah, because you tell me _everything_ ,” Hinata remarked sarcastically.

Tsukishima smirked and leaned in closer.

“O..Oi, what are you doing?” Hinata cursed at himself for stuttering.

Tsukishima moved closer, so close that their noses were touching and one move would make their lips brush against each other.

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Confusing bastard.”

With a smirk, Tsukishima closed the gap between them. Hinata made a move to push away the taller male but the latter was having none of it. Leaning with his elbow on the wall next to Hinata’s head, his other hand held Hinata’s left wrist and pinned it against the wall. Not that, Hinata was making any effort to push him away, anyway.

Tsukishima’s lips moved against Hinata’s soft ones which caused the ginger to gasp slightly before moving along with him. Hinata’s other hand found Tsukishima’s neck and wrapped itself around it loosely as their lips moved in sync.

Tsukishima’s lips were… familiar.

Hinata felt at ease as he let Tsukishima guide the kiss. Tsukishima’s hand that was holding Hinata’s wrist traveled to his jaw as he tried to move even closer to Hinata’s body.

Hinata felt oddly satisfied somehow. He didn’t know why. He was totally ignoring the fluttering feeling in his chest and the wild swarm of butterflies in his stomach as well. Tsukishima was really confusing. Why couldn’t he just tell Hinata instead of going all mysterious on him and then deciding he wanted to acquaint his lips with Hinata’s?

Tsukishima lightly licked Hinata’s bottom lip to which Hinata denied access. Tsukishima suddenly tugged at Hinata’s hair, causing a jolt of electricity to travel down his spine that made Hinata gasp. Tsukishima wasted no time in tasting Hinata eagerly.

_Strawberries._

Tsukishima tasted like strawberries. It was kind of endearing.

Hinata tilted his head to deepen the kiss, willingly meeting Tsukishima’s lips.

Hinata couldn’t believe he was doing this again with Tsukishima. The infirmary thing seemed like ages ago. Of course, they weren’t doing anything… like that. But this was the farthest they’ve gone since that incident.

Thinking back, was it some kind of coincidence that Hinata met Tsukishima of all people there?

Hinata could feel Tsukishima’s (strawberry) tongue exploring his caverns and let out a small sound, barely even there. Both of Hinata’s arms were now wrapped around Tsukishima’s neck as he stood on the tip of his toes.

Tsukishima pulled away only to breathlessly whisper against Hinata’s lips, “Wrap your legs around my waist.”

Hinata slightly jumped and did as he was told, wrapping both of his legs around the taller’s waist with Tsukishima supporting his weight and completely pushing him against the wall. To Hinata’s relief, this gave him easier access to Tsukishima’s lips as the latter caught Hinata’s again, this time more heated than before.

Hinata thank the gods for what happened next or else he would’ve actually snuck his hand into Tsukishima’s shirt and that would’ve been infinitely mortifying.

“Oi, Tsukki! Hurry up, will you? I’m starving over here!” Yamaguchi yelled impatiently from the other side, banging the door repeatedly.

Tsukishima pulled away but not before capturing Hinata’s lower lip between his teeth and tugging it slightly before letting it go.

It almost drove Hinata crazy.

Almost.

“Yamaguchi…” Tsukishima growled against Hinata’s neck after he buried his face there.

Hinata chuckled at Yamaguchi’s string of curses as Tsukishima let him go with a dramatic sigh. Hinata looked up at a grumpy Tsukishima and studied his face.

A minute of silence passed (maybe except for Yamaguchi’s complaints) between the two as they stood there, processing what just happened.

The tall blond broke the silence first as he shoved his hands in his pockets, head turned away from the ginger.

“You asked me why I chose you,” Tsukishima started as he turned to look at Hinata.

The taller teen then leaned in and planted a soft kiss on Hinata’s forehead. “Because you’re Hinata Shoyou,” he muttered against the smaller’s forehead. He moved away and looked down at the slightly wide-eyed teen, the faintest of pink evident on his cheeks.

“If this doesn’t explain it then I have no idea what will, at this point,” Tsukishima said, shaking his head as he made his way towards the door, “You’re so dense.”

Hinata almost screamed in frustration. Was he serious right now?!

“Oh, I don’t know Tsukishima. Maybe you could actually _tell_ me? You know, through _words_. Yeah, I heard humans do that a lot,” Hinata remarked, pure sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Tsukishima just gave him a shrug and went to meet Yamaguchi who was crossing his arms and tapping his foot on the floor impatiently.

“Finally! You took so long, one would think you were actually fucking out there,” the freckled brunet stated bluntly, one eyebrow raised.

Hinata blushed at his statement. Oh gods, did actually think that?

Thinking back, what if someone actually saw them making out? Arghhhh…

“Shut up Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima countered, lacking the usual bite in his sentence.

“Gomen, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi said somewhat mockingly as he rolled his eyes good-naturedly at the blond.

Tsukishima glanced back at Hinata and gave him the smallest smile ever as he tossed Hinata’s glasses towards the ginger.

A small smile, but a smile nonetheless.

“See you tomorrow,” Tsukishima told him as he walked towards the staff room with Yamaguchi in tow.

Hinata sighed and ran his hand over his face in exasperation. He wanted to call out to Tsukishima and coax him to answer all Hinata’s questions. There were numerous stuff he wanted to talk about with Tsukishima but at the same time he wanted things to stay as they were. He finally had the dreaded confrontation with the taller teen and he even got a _kiss_ out of it.

Speaking of, what the hell did they just do back there?

 out of it.

Speaking of, what the hell did they just do back there?

_He pushed you against the wall and made out with you, idiot_.

Hinata groaned and slumped against the wall. He wasn’t thinking straight. He was too enamored by Tsukishima that he just threw every rational thought away and went to make out with the blond.

Oh gods, he made out with Tsukishima.

_I made out with Tsukishima_.

Hinata bit his lower lip to conceal his traitorous grin. He leaned his head back on the wall and stared at the grey ceiling. “Goddammit Tsukishima…”

***

Tsukishima looked back at the school building as he walked towards the nearest store with Yamaguchi, thoughts drifting back to a certain ginger.

_I just want a little more time with Hinata. Please._

He was tired of thinking, tired of considering the consequences. Fuck it all, he wanted Hinata. The image of Hinata’s betrayed look, hurt crossing his features, made Tsukishima’s heart clench. He wanted to hug him right then and there and apologize profusely as he kept the ginger close.

He was sick of running away and trying to avoid the inevitable. But he just _couldn’t_ give up Hinata either.

Tsukishima clenched his jaw and tightened his grip on the strap of his backpack. Well, whatever. He was going to use whatever time he had left with Hinata. _They_ were the one who forced Tsukishima into the damn thing, he at least deserved this much.

He thought about what would happen if Hinata decided to look past his major fuck-ups and actually accept Tsukishima with open arms.

It would hurt. Fuck, it would hurt like _hell_ when the time came. He was so fucking selfish.

_I’m sorry Hinata_.

_Can I be selfish just this once?_

_This time, I’ll really be there for you._

_I promise_.

***

“Okay, I want you to answer this and ANSWER IT HONESTLY,” Sugawara gave Hinata a threatening look, pointing a pocky at the ginger, “What in the name of Wall Maria is happening between you and Tsukishima? And don’t say you don’t know either. I know you do. I’ve heard the rumors, Sho. It’s all over the school!”

Hinata fidgeted in his spot on the bed, nibbling on a piece of bread. “What’s a Wall Maria?”

Sugawara’s eyes seemed to light up as he leaned in close, a passionate look in his eyes. “Are you kidding me? Wall Maria is one of the walls protecting humanity from the Titans—wait a minute. Don’t change the subject! What’s going on? Are you two secretly dating? You’re together aren’t you?”

Were they together? Technically, not. Well, they made out and did the naughty _once_ but they never really talked about being together. Holy crap, what were they anyway?

“Honestly,” Hinata heaved out a tired sigh as he leaned his head on Kageyama who was silently observing the exchange while drinking his milk, “I don’t know Suga. He’s confusing as hell. He keeps on pushing me away then pulling me back, it’s frustrating.”

Hinata’s thoughts flashed back to the Tsukishima at the arcade. The one who was secretly obsessed with dinosaurs. The big dork who couldn’t aim right.

“Tell me everything,” Sugawara demanded.

And so Hinata did, down to the last detail. Sugawara’s expression constantly shifted from giddy to annoyed to straight out pissed then back to giddy as Hinata laid out everything that happened with Tsukishima and everything that involved with it.

“I can’t believe him!” Sugawara exclaimed, clenching his fist below his chin as he glared a hole at the duvet. Then the silver head’s face relaxed into a thoughtful one as he laced his elbow on his crisscrossed legs and leaned his lead on his hand.

“But then again, he might be keeping some sort of secret like in those AU’s I’ve read,” Sugawara said as he pursed his lips, seemed to be deep in thought, “It sounds like he actually likes you, Sho. And don’t you dare deny it. That thing he did at the rooftop, it practically screams ‘I like you!’ to me. Maybe something’s keeping his from telling the truth or dropping the bomb? What do you think Kageyama?”

Two heads turned to their quiet ravenette who was happily sipping his milk and chewing on his cookie. “Does he make you happy whenever he’s not being a complete dick, Hinata? Because if you are happy and then equally as hurt when he does bad things, then I can tell you like him as well. You still have to talk to him though, minus the part where you make out after having a one-sided yelling contest. Straighten things out with him. Talk about the things he’s willing to disclose and just drift away from those he refuse to talk about. We don’t know the guy. _You_ don’t know the guy. So try and get to know him. That is, if you actually want to.”

The two stared astonishingly at Kageyama for a few good minutes before Sugawara burst out laughing. “Well damn, Kageyama. Who knew you were such a love guru?”

Sugawara then turned to Hinata. “He’s right, Sho. Talk to him and get him to talk to you.”

_Talk to him and get him to talk to you_.

Did Hinata want to? Yes, he did. He didn’t know why but something about Tsukishima was luring him in. Maybe he actually liked the guy? Hinata shook his head. It was still too early to talk about real _feelings_. But then again, maybe it wasn’t? That’s why he should talk to Tsukishima again soon. If Tsukishima just refused to leave Hinata be, then might as well get to know him better right?

Who knows? Maybe things would take an unexpected turn?

Hinata almost laughed at the though. Yeah, right.

Sugawara’s lips curved up into a shit eating grin. “This kinda reminds me of that fic I finished yesterday.”

Hinata and Kageyama groaned. “Stopp…” Hinata whined as he tried to bury Sugawara’s face with a pillow.

“No, listen! Okay, okay so there was this rich guy,” Sugawara started to explain with an eager smile on his face, “He was actually really rich, the heir to a big ass rich company. His father was planning to marry him off to another person, who also happened to be an heir, to merge the two companies together. So the main character refused to get into relationships to avoid drama and the occasional pain that comes along a break-up because he was already technically engaged to some stuck-up brat. But he failed and fell for this guy. The guy didn’t know about the character being in an arranged marriage and he planned to keep it that way. Here’s my theory. Maybe Tsukishima was the _main character_!”

The two stared at Sugawara with a blank face as he gazed at them with the brightest expression.

“You read too much gay fanfiction,” Hinata deadpanned. Kageyama nodded in silent agreement as he threw a stuffed wolf at Sugawara. The silver-haired teen pouted then hugged Hinata from the side. “Well whatever happens, keep in mind that we’ll always be here. Don’t keep anything from us, okay? We promise we’ll help you the best we can,” Sugawara placed a soft kiss on the tuft of bright orange hair, “I love you, Sho.”

Hinata shook his head as a smile made its way into his face. “Sap.”

Sugawara chuckled as he tugged on Kageyama’s shirt to make him join the hug. “You know it. Grump, get over here!”

Kageyama scowled a bit but it slowly shifted into a small smile as he pressed himself in between his two best friends and wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders. “I’m hungry.”

Sugawara groaned as he pushed his palms to Kageyama’s face while Hinata laughed at the ravenette’s random statement.

“It’s like—holy fudge it’s 1 AM. Yeah so, it’s like 1 AM and you’re still asking for food?” Sugawara retorted as he tried to take down Kageyama.

“Yeah.” Was Kageyama’s glorious reply.

Hinata shook his head in amusement at his two best friends. “Let’s get food then.”

As Kageyama raided the fridge for ice cream, Sugawara and Hinata leaned on the kitchen counter, drifting into casual conversations.

Then it turned to a somewhat sensitive one.

“Hinata?” Sugawara spoke up after a moment of silence.

“Yeah?”

“What if we join the volleyball team?”

Hinata’s head turned sharply towards Sugawara who was gazing at him intently.

“Suga we talked about this…”

“Just think about it, Sho. You could express yourself on the court when you couldn’t with words. You seriously can’t let them bully you anymore. They do that because they _think_ they see a… powerless… defenseless person they can push around. I don’t like seeing that Sho. I’ve known you for _years_ and I haven’t seen you so… sad,” Sugawara said as he looked at Hinata pleadingly, “If you keep letting them, they won’t stop. You have to show them you can fight. I know how crazy good you are at volleyball, freaky even, if you’re paired with Kageyama. Hell, I’ve never seen a quick so… perfect!”

“It’s not perfect Suga,” Hinata sighed as he crossed his arms and licked his lips.

“Well your aim aren’t always perfect and you can’t always make it land on the other side of the court but you can just _see_ the talent and effort you guys have whenever you perform it,” Sugawara pouted and crossed his arms childishly, “I wish I was as good as you guys.”

“You’re good Suga, just not in the same field as ours, not that we’re _that_ good anyway. I mean Kageyama, yes, I do believe he’s talented. Me? Not so much. I haven’t played on a real court nor have I battled against real players.”

“That’s why we should join!” Sugawara was full out beaming now, staring down at Hinata with a wide grin, “Admit it, the players in our school are pretty cool. I like Oikawa and Bokuto. They’re really funny.”

“I saw you staring at Tendou’s ass,” Kageyama spoke up, opening a carton of double dutch ice cream.

Sugawara’s face turned completely red as he spluttered at Kageyama’s statement. Hinata eyed Sugawara curiously, noting his reaction.

“W..What?!”

“You were staring at Tendou’s ass,” Kageyama patted his own butt with a straight face as he said this causing Hinata to let out a snort.

“Tendou’s… I was _not_ staring at his ass! What the fuck Kageyama?” Sugawara countered, face still red.

“Why are you so flustered?”

“I am not flustered!”

“You do look flustered, Suga.”

“Shut up Hinata you’re not helping.”

“Your face is flushed.”

“Okay one,” Sugawara held up a finger, “he’s no longer a member of their team. From what I’ve heard he quit because they lost in their last game. Second, and the most _important_ point, he’s a major dickwad! And he happens to be Hinata’s bully!

Hinata fidgeted as he avoided eye contact with Sugawara. “If you.. um.. If you like him… I won’t stop… you…”

Sugawara looked at Hinata incredulously. “I don’t like him! They day I’d have feelings for that guy is the day hell freezes over. I will _never_ fall for him. Never.”

“Geez, okay. You’ll never fall for him, got it,” Hinata sweatdropped at Sugawara’s reaction.

Hinata sighed and stared at the kitchen floor. “I’ll think about it.”

“Huh?” Sugawara and Kageyama eyed him questioningly.

Hinata looked up at his two best friends. “Joining the team. I’ll think about it.”

Kageyama nodded encouragingly at Hinata while Sugawara smiled warmly.

“That’s my little sunshine.”

 

***

“GUYS WAKE UP WE’RE LATE!”

Hinata sat up groggily, mind trying to construe the series of events that were currently taking place in his room. “W..Wha?..”

He could make out a flash of silver, clothes flying everywhere, loud footsteps and a string of profanities.

“What time…” Hinata stifled a yawn as he tried to rub the sleep from his eyes, “What time is it?”

“It’s 7:15! Class will be starting in like fifteen minutes and it takes 20 minutes to get to school alone, _on a vehicle_. So get your ass to the shower right now!” Sugawara crossed the room frantically while trying to put on a shirt.

“Sugawara, that’s not your shirt,” Hinata pointed out, squinting due to the harsh sunlight entering the room.

“Really? Aw, that’s too bad Hinata. I don’t care! It fits, it doesn’t look centuries old and it’s washed so it’s good enough,” Sugawara shot Hinata a sharp look, “Why are you still sitting there? Shower! Now!”

“Geez, alright. Why are you always so strict on punctuality? It’s not like they’re going to kill us or something,” Hinata grumbled as he padded across the room towards his bathroom.

Hinata let out a huge yawn as he started up the shower, making sure it was the right temperature. He was still half-asleep and was mostly working on autopilot because his brain just refused to interpret anything at the moment. Why did school start so early anyway? Hinata was a growing boy. He needed more sleep. Well, they did stay up late last night talking about different stuff so he shouldn’t be complaining about lacking sleep.

After going through his morning routine, he walked out of the shower with only a towel wrapped around his waist only to find Sugawara desperately trying to tame Kageyama’s raven locks with a hair brush. Kageyama had this scowl on his face obviously showing that he didn’t care whether his hair looked like a damn broom.

Sugawara put down the brush with a sigh and motioned Kageyama out of the room and towards the kitchen for breakfast. Hinata slowly blinked at Sugawara, still trying to fight the tiredness threatening to take over his body. Now he definitely regretted staying up late. His eyes burned like hell’s core, his eyelids decided to become lazy and refused to stay open, and his body felt like it was made of lead.

All in all he felt like utter shit.

Sugawara shoved some clothes into his arms. “Wear these,” he ordered, “And quickly please.”

Hinata obliged and wore Sugawara’s choice of clothing as fast as he could. “Why can’t I be the one to choose my outfit?” Hinata complained as he buttoned the abomination they called skinny jeans. Wait… Skinny jeans? Sugawara was making him wear skinny jeans?!

“I know that look. Yes, I am making you wear skinny jeans. Oh stop it, you’ve worn skinny jeans plenty of times before,” Sugawara rolled his eyes and worked on Hinata’s hair, “Besides, knowing you, you’d probably be staring at your closet for half an hour contemplating on what outfit you should wear. We should probably shop for clothes by the way. We really have to change your entire wardrobe. Your choice of clothing is shit. Seriously, I haven’t seen you in years and then the next thing I know you suddenly took an interest to great great grandpa clothes.”

Sugawara patted Hinata’s unruly hair, seemingly content with his work.

“My glasses,” Hinata said as he looked left and right for the said object, “I can’t find them.”

Hinata racked his brain for nay memories as to where he put his glasses last night.. err.. a couple of hours ago.

“I swear it was on the night stand…” Hinat muttered to himself as he opened his drawers but found nothing.

“Maybe you left it in the shower?” Sugawara spoke up as his eyes darted around for Hinata’s glasses.

“No, I don’t bring my glasses to the shower.”

“Do you really need them that much?” Sugawara asked, glancing at his watch.

“I… usually sit on the back of the classroom so I’m having trouble seeing the writings on the board. That’s basically what I need the glasses for,” Hinata explained with a sigh.

“It’s not that bad, is it?”

“My eyesight? I’m slightly near-sighted Suga, not blind.”

Sugawara grabbed Hinata’s arm and dragged him towards the door. “Then you could probably survive a day without them. Come on!”

“Wha—“

Before Hinata knew it, he was running towards the dining table. Well, more like _dragged_ towards the dining table.

“Kageyama, don’t fall asleep!”

This was going to be another long day…

***

“So Hinata, do you actually play volleyball?” Kuroo asked, poking his lasagna with a fork.

Hinata opened his mouth to answer but stopped short when Kageyama spoke up for the first time throughout lunch, almost surprising everyone.

“Yeah, and he’s damn well good at it.”

_Thanks a lot, Kagayema._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual thank you for your support and feel free to suggest or comment anything :D
> 
> See ya!
> 
> (That sounded so Youtuber-ish in my head lol)


	10. Sarcasm and Volleyball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well there goes 'updating every three/four days.' xD 
> 
> Go on, proceed.
> 
> Enjoy!

### Chapter 10

#### Sarcasm and Volleyball

“Hinata, will you pull your hood down!” Sugawara hissed as he tried to yank Hinata’s hood down but to no avail. The ginger was looking down, clutching tightly on the hood of his grey hoodie.

“No!” the smaller hissed back, “My hair looks messy and weird! People will stare at me!”

“Seriously?” Sugawara glanced at Hinata incredulously, “And your hair looks fine! It’s been like that even _before_ you moved here! People didn’t stare at you back then, did they?”

“Suga stop it!” Hinata hissed as he swatted Sugawara’s hand away when the silverhead tried to pull Hinata’s hood down. A couple of peering heads turned towards them as Hinata pulled his hood even further down, muttering inaudible things under his breath.

Hinata wasn’t used to this. He was used to being… orderly and formal and just... not this…

Unfortunately, he only realized that the moment they stepped inside school perimeters and processed the fact that he was wearing a white t-shirt, black skinny jeans and black converse high tops. So he immediately pulled his emergency hoodie in the car (Pfft, what do you mean _why_? Don’t people hide emergency hoodies in their cars?). He felt strange and slightly embarrassed. He was never putting himself in Sugawara’s hands ever again.

_Never again._

Sugawara finally shut his mouth but not before crossing his arms childishly. “You look kinda hot though. Why are you hiding it? I knew your ass would look _fine_ in those jeans. Dammit…” Sugawara mumbled grumpily.

Hinata fought off the blush that threatened to rise to his face. What the hell? When did Sugawara even buy those jeans?

Hinata clutched his books to his chest with both arms as he tried to hide his face with his hoodie. This was embarrassing. Teachers usually never let students wear their hoods up and keep their hats on during classes. Damn old people. Arghhh…

He suddenly noticed that Sugawara was silent. _Too_ silent. Sugawara was never silent. He always had something to rant about so it was kind of strange that he was keeping his mouth shut. Hinata looked up at Sugawara only to see him glancing behind them, one eyebrow raised. Hinata was about to do the same when a body bolted right between Hinata and Kageyama, pulling the ginger’s hood down as he did so. Hinata’s eyes widened at the sight of glowing gold eyes right in front of him.

“What the.. fuck?” Hinata managed to let out.

“Damn, Hinata! You look totally different!” Bokuto exclaimed, eyes practically sparkling.

Hinata spluttered as he made a move to pull his hood up but someone held the hood in place. He looked up to see Kuroo grinning down at him with his hand holding the small ginger’s hood to prevent Hinata from hiding under it. 

“Nuh uh. Bokuto meant good different. You look good Hinata. N..Not that you didn’t look good before! This look kinda suits… you better… yeah,” Kuroo stumbled over his words as he scratched the back of his neck with a sheepish look on his face.

Hinata blinked at the feline-eyed male then glanced at Kageyama. His raven-haired best friend gave him an encouraging look and nodded towards Kuroo which meant he agreed with him.

Hinata turned towards Kuroo again, timidly so. “You mean that? I don’t look… weird?”

Kuroo cackled as he let go of Hinata’s hood and ruffled his hair. “Of course not. Right, Bo?”

Bokuto grinned, hands on his hips, as he beamed at the smaller. “Right!”

Hinata’s eyes darted around, noticing the stares of the students around them. Some were eyeing them curiously and some… well let’s just say Hinata could’ve already been dead if looks could kill.

Sugawara noticed Hinata looking around and turned the ginger’s head towards him. “Don’t mind them Hinata. They’re the weird ones here.”

Hinata opened his mouth to reply but a loud cheerful voice stopped him from making any sentences as their group shifted their gazes towards a bouncy brunet. What was with all these people?!

“Hello friends!”

Oikawa Tooru practically skipped towards them in all his angelic glory with a scowling Iwaizumi and an impassive Akaashi behind him.

_Don’t they look all happy today?_

“Shrimpy-chan!” Hinata looked mildly horrified as Oikawa directed his attention at Hinata, “You look adorable! Awww!”

Hinata stared in complete horror as Oikawa reached to pinch Hinata’s cheeks. Iwaizumi, gods bless him for all eternity may he be in Elysium after a peaceful death, grabbed Oikawa by the collar and pulled him away from Hinata.

Hinata looked at the people around him. First of all, why the hell were they with Hinata and his best friends? And second, why were they huddled in the middle of the hallway? Seriously.

“Why are you weirdos here?” Sugawara voiced Hinata’s wonder out loud blankly to which Bokuto laughed as if it was the most hilarious thing in the world.

“Well—“ Bokuto was cut off by a sharp voice from behind him, a sharp voice Hinata knew all too well.

“Maybe because it’s our school as well? Oh wait, sorry. I forgot you’re a walking pile of dumb shit,” Tendou retorted as he walked towards the group, rolling his crimson eyes.

“Ah, still a Gorilla Face, I see,” Sugawara shot back with a smile on his face.

“At least I’m not as dumb as you are!”

“You really do suck at insults, do you?”

“Shut the fuck up, old man!”

“What the fuck did you just call me?!”

“Old! Man! Jeez _grandpa_ , you really do need to get a hearing aid soon.”

“My hair is _silver_ not gray, you dumbass! Get your goddamn colors right.”

“Pfft. Could’ve fooled me.”

“Speak for yourself, Pineapple Head.”

“That’s the best you can do?”

“Wanna take this outside, asshole?!”

“What, scared people might see you get your ass kicked?”

“HA! If I remember correctly, _I_ kicked _your_ ass.”

“Oh, bite me in the ass, will you?”

“I’d love to but there’s nothing there.”

“OTP…” Oikawa whispered to Bokuto. The two oversized children giggled quietly to themselves as they discussed dangerous and _explicit_ topics under their breaths.

_Tendou pushing Sugawara against the wall._

_Angry make out sessions._

_Tendou grabbing a fistful of Sugawara’s silver locks as the silver head bends over—_

Okay, Hinata did _not_ want to hear those.

“You little shit, I’m gonna-“

Tendou’s continuous assault of words was cut off by a hand covering his mouth.

Tsukishima regarded them with a small nod as he easily restrained a fuming redhead calmly.

“Leave him alone, Tendou,” Tsukishima’s voice left no room for argument as he let go of the said redhead, eyes darting around, seemingly searching for a particular ginger.

Tsukishima’s eyes slightly widened as his eyes landed on a familiar person.

Unobstructed by those thick-rimmed glasses he always wore, Hinata’s big amber orbs stared back at Tsukishima’s with an underlying tinge of innocence and general curiosity. His bright orange hair, usually perfectly held together by shit ton of gel, were now freed in an unruly mass of orange curls. The tall blond unconsciously took long strides towards the ginger and looked down at him with that familiar strange look in his eyes.

Oh uh. Did he not like it? Was he going to show his asshole sides to Hinata in front of all these people? Was he planning on embarrassing Hinata because of that ‘new look’?

Tsukishima raised a hand. Years of dealing with Tendou led Hinata to automatically close his eyes in response. But he didn’t feel any pain or mortification. Instead, he felt the ghost of a touch, warm and gentle, on his cheek until the blond fully placed his palm on Hinata’s cheek.

Well, that was better than a punch.

Huzzah.

Hinata’s eyes snapped open and immediately regretted it when he was met with Tsukishima’s honey brown eyes staring intensely at him.

Then, Tsukishima did something Hinata totally did not expect. He tilted his head down (Tsukishima was so damn tall dammit) and whispered in Hinata’s ear, “No matter how much you change your look, you’re still Hinata Shouyo to me.”

With that, he planted a soft kiss on Hinata’s cheek and walked away as if nothing happened, leaving Hinata in a blushing mess of mush.

“Tendou, let’s go.”

“But—“

“Let’s. Go.”

Tendou growled, well he attempted to, at Sugawara before catching up to Tsukishima whose face was back to its annoyingly calm look.

Hinata swore his knees were about to wobble and his heart kind of threatened to beat out of his chest if he didn’t calm the fuck down. He had to calm the fuck down.

_“You’re still Hinata Shoyou to me.”_

Yep, his heart was going to beat out of his chest in a bloody mess of embarrassment and, dare he say it, utter joy.

Oikawa was the first to react.

“Holy cow! Finally! I ship! I ship!” Oikawa rejoiced as he performed some sort of weird victory dance. He raised his hand at Iwaizumi, attempting for a high five. “Gimme some!”

Iwaizumi lovingly responded with a middle finger, looking like he was completely done with Oikawa’s shit.

Oikawa pouted and crossed his arms. “Rude!”

Before the others could react, the first bell rang.

Hinata cursed as he scrambled for his books (when the hell did he drop them anyway?) and adjusted the strap of his backpack. He still had to walk to the other side of the building to get to his first class. Fun.

“Wait, Sho—“

“See you guys later!” Hinata called as he sprinted towards Math Class.

With Tsukishima.

Math Class with Tsukishima.

How was he going to look at the telephone pole blond baby in the eye after what happened this morning?

A blush crept into Hinata’s face at the memory.

_Great_.

 

 

 

Hinata stared at the door for a few seconds before deciding to just fuck it.

That sounded wrong.

Well, fuck it. He was going to act cool.

He pushed the door open and sauntered towards his seat.

“Hinata.”

There came his coolness flying right out the window. Thank you so much Tsukishima Kei.

“Y..Yes?” Hinata stammered, looking at everything except Tsukishima’s face.

Hinata inwardly cursed. That was pathetic. He just stuttered like a goddamn high school girl talking to her crush for the first time. Well, he was in high school and he was talking to his… what was Tsukishima to him?

_“Not here, not like this_. _”_

_Because Tsukishima was hot and a damn good kisser._

_“A handsome young man stopped by earlier and told me to give this to you. Such a sweet lad.”_

_“I want… the green… the green… dinosaur…”_

_“You’re beautiful.”_

_“Because you’re Hinata Shoyou.”_

_“You’re still Hinata Shoyou to me.”_

Yeah, no. It wasn’t a simple crush. He wasn’t falling for Tsukishima either. Hinata decided not to dwell on the matter and focus on other important things first. Like Tsukishima’s piercing eyes directed at him.

Tsukishima yanked Hinata’s hood down and ruffled his hair. “Better. Now you don’t look like a serial killer trying to hide his face away from people.”

Hinata blinked once at Tsukishima.

Twice.

Thrice.

“Did you just crack a joke?”

Tsukishima rolled his eyes and slumped in his seat. “Shut up.”

Hinata couldn’t help but grin at the tall blond.

“Aww who knew big bad Tsukishima Kei had a sense of humor?” Hinata teased, poking Tsukishima’s cheek.

“Stop it.”

Hinata ignored the warning and continued to poke Tsukishima’s cheek.

What? It was fun.

This continued for a few seconds before Tsukishima reached out and pinched Hinata’s cheek. Hard.

_Son of a-_

“Oww! Tsuki—Ow! Goddammit! Alright, alright! I’ll stop!” Hinata glared at Tsukishima, rubbing his reddening cheek. Hinata only got a smirk in return as Tsukishima rested his chin on his palm. “You started it.”

“Whatever.”

“Want me to kiss it better?”

“Ew. No thanks.”

“That wasn’t what you said at the rooftop when I pushed you against the wall and—“

“Okayyyy, I’m going to take a seat now.”

Hinata gave Tsukishima one last glare (to which he got that same annoying but attractive smirk in return) as he walked towards his seat and planted his butt on it. Needless to say, the day started off better than he expected.

Definitely better than he expected.

***

Hinata sighed as he walked out of the classroom and towards his locker.

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

Hinata remembered Sugawara mentioning the disease before. Hinata didn’t understand what it was before their teacher explained it to them in between his lesson about the _Nervous System_. Why he started ranting about cardiovascular diseases when they were supposed to be learning about the brain, Hinata had no idea. Hinata just remembered his teacher telling a story about his friend’s niece? Then he pretty much zoned out after that.

He did kind of catch what Hypertro—goddammit- _HCM_ meant. Something about a portion of the heart- the myocardium- being enlarged creating a functional impairment of the heart, or whatever.

Hinata let out another sigh as he shoved his books in his locker before slamming it shut.

Ugh, stupid school. He couldn’t wait to go home and cuddle with his pillows, preferably for an eternity please. But life didn’t work that way, did it? Of course it didn’t. Life wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows other people made it out to be.

‘Seize the day.’

‘Life is a wheel.’

‘Blah.’

‘Blooh.’

Why couldn’t they just hunt and throw rocks at each other like the old days and still buy phones and washing machines?

Right. Wrong millennium.

An arm suddenly made its way around Hinata’s shoulders causing the small ginger to jump in surprise.

“Relax, it’s me,” Tsukishima muttered in his ear.

“That doesn’t exactly make things any better,” Hinata deadpanned, turning towards the taller blond.

Tsukishima pulled at an orange curl with the arm that was slung around the smaller’s shoulders and gave Hinata a blank look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Hinata just shrugged, not responding to the taller’s question.

With an arm still wrapped around his shoulders, Hinata let Tsukishima lead him to the cafeteria.

Tsukishima buried his nose in Hinata’s hair, taking a whiff. Hinata made a face and pushed his hand on the blond’s face. “Creep.”

“Your hair smells good,” Tsukishima stated bluntly, prying Hinata’s hand off his face.

Hinata spluttered and tried to avoid Tsukishima’s gaze. He couldn’t just say things like that!

_Why not?_

It’s weird!

_It made your stomach feel good weird though._

But still!

Ugh, now he was arguing with himself.

“Creep,” Hinata repeated as he crossed his arms, the tiniest pout prominent on his lips.

As they made their way towards the cafeteria, Hinata noticed almost all of the people they passed by were staring at them and it wasn’t exactly making him comfortable. Hinata tried to duck and remove Tsukishima’s arm from his shoulders but this only made the blond hold him tighter to his side.

“Don’t mind them,” Tsukishima muttered as they casually strolled through the hallway, “You… don’t mind this right? I’ll let you go if you do though…”

Tsukishima’s face fell under Hinata’s scrutiny as the blond lowered his gaze, eyebrows slightly scrunched together.

Was that the Tsukishima nervous face or the Tsukishima ruminative face?

“Don’t…”

_Don’t let go_.

That sounded something from Titanic so Hinata settled for, “I kind of… don’t mind.”

Tsukishima gave Hinata the smallest of smiles and turned to look forward.

“Are we interrupting something?”

Sugawara fell in step with Hinata, wiggling his eyebrows, Kageyama walking next to him.

“Not really.”

“Yes.”

Hinata and Tsukishima replied in unison.

“Oho,” one of Sugawara’s eyebrows shot up as he looked at Tsukishima past Hinata, “Look here, tall guy. You better play nice with us. _We’re_ Hinata’s best friends, two-thirds of Hinata’s very existence. You know what that means?”

_Here we go._

Tsukishima regarded them with a bored look.

“We have the right to kick your sorry ass all the way to Tartarus and away from our Shoyou. Hinata is our most prized gem. If we don’t approve of your behavior, you’re going to get hell.” Sugawara threatened, “If you hurt our Shoyou one last time, we’ll return it to you twice as much as the pain you’ve caused him. Mark my words, Tsukishima Kei. We _will_ hunt you down. Do I make myself clear?”

Tsukishima, Sugawara, and Kageyama continued their stare-down for a few moments before the blond gave them a serious nod.

“Good,” Kageyama said as they continued their trek towards the cafeteria.

“Well,” Sugawara’s sweet smile was back now, “We’ll leave Sho in your… capable hands when we’re not around.”

Hinata thought Sugawara’s suggestive smirk when he said ‘capable hands’ was kind of disturbing.

_Those two…_

Hinata shook his head, a soft smile plastered on his face. They were right. Sugawara and Kageyama were two-thirds of Hinata, just like Hinata was to them.

 

 

“Kou-chan!” Oikawa hollered, waving his hand in the air obnoxiously as he tried to get their attention, “Shrimpy-chan! Tobio-chan! Kei-chan!”

“Somebody shut him up with a chair to the face, please…” Hinata heard Tsukishima mumble making the ginger chuckle.

Hinata liked Oikawa. There was this vibe to him that just made even the strangest of strangers comfortable around him. He was really friendly, too.

“Here comes the lovebirds!” Bokuto whooped as he stood on his chair, joining Oikawa in his obnoxious wave party.

“Kuroo, put a leash on your boyfriend, will you?” Tsukishima pushed Bokuto making him topple over.

“Ha!” Kuroo exclaimed, “At least I have a boyfriend.”

The feline-eyed male pulled his owl boyfriend from the ground and dusted his shirt. “Aww, are you okay Bo?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. That’s what you get for being embarrassing.”

“Love you too.”

Hinata took his probably-going-to-be-usual-because-these-people-seemed-to-take-an-interest-to-them seat in between Kageyama and Sugawara who was seated next to Bokuto after getting his food. Tsukishima sat next to Daichi’s seat who was next to Akaashi who was next to Iwaizumi who was seated across Hinata.

Tsukishima looked at Hinata, lower lip slightly jutting out and eyebrows furrowed. His look practically screamed, “Why the hell can’t I sit next to you?”

Hinata sent Tsukishima a sly smirk and brought out his phone.

**To: [Tsukishima]**

_Only if you ask one of my best friends nicely._

It wasn’t that Hinata didn’t want to sit next to either of his best friends and it also didn’t mean that Hinata refused to sit next to Tsukishima. Hinata was just having the time of his life messing with the usually grumpy blond because the ginger knew if Tsukishima asked Sugawara, he’d definitely get a sarcastic remark in return. Probably something like:

_“Sugawara, can we please switch seats?”_

_“I don’t know, Tsukishima. Can we?”_

Hinata snickered to himself. And if Tsukishima asked Kageyama, he’d totally get a stubborn glare in return.

And Hinata also knew Tsukishima knew that.

“Fuck you,” Tsukishima said out loud after reading Hinata’s message.

Sugawara stared at them in curiosity. “What was that about?”

Hinata sent Tsukishima a teasing grin. “Oh, nothing.”

The duo, Bokuto and Kuroo, totally read Tsukishima’s face and gave the grumpy blond a shit eating grin as they intertwined their fingers together in front of their chests and belted out, “I WISH I WAS, I WISH I WASSS, BESIDE YOUUUUU!!”

“5SOS SUCKS!” Someone screamed from the other side of the cafeteria.

“SHUT UP TERUSHIMA. NO ONE ASKED FOR YOUR OPINION!” Kuroo screamed back.

Tsukishima let out a deep sigh, seemingly done with everyone’s bullshit.

Hinata chuckled, shaking his head.

Daichi came and slumped in his seat, sighing, as he stabbed his straw into his yogurt drink.

“We’re screwed,” the captain said as he prodded his apple slice with a fork.

“Why are we screwed?” Akaashi inquired, looking over at Daichi.

“Everybody I know who plays volleyball said they couldn’t join the team. Some already joined other sports teams and some just weren’t interested,” Daichi explained.

“We can still play right?” Oikawa encouraged them.

“We fall short on middle blockers and your knee is still injured, Oikawa,” Daichi responded with a sigh.

“No, I can still play captain!” Oikawa argued, “It’s no biggie, really.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Oikawa. We can’t risk it okay?” Kuroo spoke worriedly.

“We can try convincing Tendou to join, again,” Iwaizumi suggested, “He seems to be the only one who wasn’t too serious about leaving the team. Lev said his mom forced him to quit because his grades are plummeting and Ennoshita said he wanted to try baseball.”

“ _No_ ,” Daichi disagreed sharply, “No… We… have to respect their decisions. We can’t force them to return even if they don’t want to.”

Iwaizumi nodded.

Silence fell over the table as the group ate their lunch.

Sugawara cast a glance at Hinata.

Dammit.

Hinata turned to Kageyama who nodded towards the team encouragingly. Hinata sighed and looked at Sugawara again.

_‘Whatever you decide, we’ll be by your side.’_

Well at least, that’s what Hinata though Sugawara’s look said.

The silverhead placed his hand on Hinata’s and smiled his Sugawara smile. The one that could crack ice, thaw a frozen heart, make flowers bloom and summon monsters from the depths of Tartarus and make them happily oblige to color Dora’s face.   

“Yo,” Tendou settled himself next to Kuroo and placed his tray on the table. He noticed the gloomy atmosphere and awkwardly settled himself in his seat.

“Um.. Okay…”

“Hey Tendou,” Bokuto tried to break the tension, “What took you so long?”

“Oh um…” Tendou chuckled somewhat nervously, “You know, _stuff_. Bathroom. You probably don’t wanna know.”

“You’re right we don’t,” Tsukishima responded while making a face, “Gross.”

“Alright!” Kuroo suddenly slammed his hands on the table, “If my memory serves me right…”

Kuroo narrowed his eyes and stared at empty space as if recurring a buried memory.

“Tetsu, what is it?” Bokuto inquired curiously.

“Of course!” Kuroo suddenly cackled loudly, causing the others to give him an odd look.

“Okay?” Tendou spoke up, “Someone had the Mad Hatter’s puke for breakfast.”

Kuroo ignored Tendou’s comment and promptly turned to the three new addition to their group who looked utterly lost. “Hinata, Kageyama,” Kuroo’s eyes were practically sparkling causing Hinata to back up a bit.

“Yes..?”

“Do you still play volleyball?” Kuroo asked.

Hinata stilled.

What?

What did he mean _still_ play volleyball?

How did he know?

Hinata shared a puzzled look with Kageyama. He turned to Sugawara who gave him a questioning look to which he promptly shrugged.

“Kuroo, I think you’re…”

_Mistaken?_

No, Kuroo wasn’t mistaken. He was right. But how did he know Hinata _knew_ volleyball in the first place anyway?

“ _Hinata_ , do you _actually_ play volleyball?” Kuroo asked again, this time less enthusiastically so as he poked his lasagna with a fork, “Until now?”

The others turned to Hinata, mildly curious.

Pfft, Hinata Shoyou? Playing volleyball?

_Ridiculous_.

Right?

Tendou snorted before letting out a loud laugh. “Yeah, and I’m a gold medalist in archery!”

“Shut up Tendou,” Tsukishima hissed.

Daichi smiled sheepishly at Hinata, scratching the back of his neck. “I’m sorry. Ignore them, Hinata.”

“Tetsu-chan has gone bonkers,” Oikawa agreed as he continued to eat his lunch.

“No, I’m not! I just _know_ , okay?” Kuroo defended indignantly, crossing his arms. Bokuto nodded sympathetically and patted his boyfriend’s shoulders. “Sure you do, Tetsu.”

What was Hinata supposed to say? Yes? No?

Oh, he definitely preferred the latter. But...

Thinking back on what Sugawara said last night...

Hinata opened his mouth to answer but stopped short when Kageyama spoke up for the first time throughout lunch, surprising everyone.

“Yeah, and he’s damn well good at it.”

Every head in their table turned towards them in surprise.

“What?!”

“Really?”

“Yes! Finally!”

“Join us, please!”

“Holy shit, I told you, Bo! I fucking told you! Who’s bonkers now, huh?”

Hinata smiled timidly at the rush of attention from the others. “I’m not so sure about the ‘good’ part though,” the small ginger said, glancing at Sugawara with a small smile and a nod.

“Oh yeah!” Sugawara fist pumped and turned towards Daichi, “Looks like we’ll be joining, captain. If you’ll have us, of course.”

“Of course!” Daichi grinned widely at the silverhead.

“But he’s a midget!” Tendou argued, “He probably can’t even reach half of the net!”

Kuroo rolled his eyes at Tendou. “Now you’re just exaggerating, Tendou.”

“Well he _is_ pretty short,” Oikawa inserted, examining Hinata, “But! We haven’t seen what he’s capable of so we shouldn’t really judge.”

“Gymnasium, after class. Three on three. You’re cool with that right?” Bokuto practically begged them with his eyes.

The three nodded.

_Oh, gods._

***

“I want to play!” Oikawa whined, stomping his foot on the ground but froze when a jolt of pain shot through his knee.

Daichi gave him a pointed look and pushed Oikawa down on the bench by the shoulders. “No, Oikawa. You’re not playing,” Daichi ordered firmly then gave Iwaizumi a look.

Iwaizumi nodded and sat beside a sulking Oikawa. “You know he’s only doing this for your own good right?”

“Yeah... But I really want to play against them, Iwa-chan…” Oikawa muttered sadly.

“You’ll get your chance, Tooru. We really don’t want to make your injury worse. Then you really wouldn’t be able to play _with_ them,” Iwaizumi explained, intently watching his best friend’s reactions.

Oikawa heaved a deep sigh. “Fineee.”

Iwaizumi let a lopsided smile slip into his face as he watched his current teammates and hopefully future ones warm up as they prepared for their three-on-three match.

***

“What’s with all these people Suga?” Hinata hissed, gesturing to the rapidly increasing number of people settling themselves on the bleachers around them.

“Well, you know how popular the players of the volleyball team are. Plus, everybody would want to watch a match between them and new players. It’s kind of interesting,” Sugawara replied as he stretched his upper arms.

“So we’re only playing one set right? And whoever wins it will be the overall winner?” Hinata confirmed, bending down to reach his toes.

“Yeah. It’s not an official match anyway. They just wanted to see how we play and stuff like that,” Sugawara explained.

Hinata stood up straight and took a deep breath. Good thing Kenma had some sports attire in his locker for him to borrow including a pair of volleyball shoes his pudding friend kept for P.E. class.

And his two best friends? Well, the little shits already had their clothes tucked away in their locker ‘just in case’ they actually join the team.

Hinata took a deep breath and glanced at the court. “Alright, let’s do this.”

 

***

_Hinata snapped the eyepatch into place as he grabbed the hanger he stole from his mom’s closet and turned to Kageyama. “Arrrr! Ye ready, mate?”_

_“Aye, aye captain!” Kageyama responded enthusiastically in his red bandana, fake beard and stuffed parrot perched on his shoulder. Well, more like glued._

_“Set sail for Neverland!”_

_The two ran around the neighborhood, pretending they just got pixie dust from Tinkerbell and were now invading a city as they ‘flew’ from house to house._

_Kageyama knocked on one door while Hinata yelled, “Aye! Surrender yer food!”_

_The door opened and revealed a woman with long black hair and golden eyes. “Shiver me timbers! It’s Captain Hook!” The woman exclaimed in feigned surprise and terror._

_“Ayee, lass. Give up yer treasure!” Kageyama responded, shaking his tiny fist up at the older woman._

_“Why, of course! Don’t want to upset Captain Hook now, do we? Wait here, please.”_

_A boy looking like their age peeked from behind the door and observed the two kids dressed as pirates curiously. With a tentative step forward, he asked, “Can I… Can I be a pirate too?”_

_“Aye! Of course you can, lad! Climb aboard!”_

_The boy grinned and stepped outside the house and joined the two kids. A few moments later, the woman came back carrying a Tupperware full of…_

_“Brownies! Such treasure ye have, lass!” Hinata chirped, eyes sparkling, as the woman handed him a huge container full of brownies, “Thank you!”_

_“Captain Hook isn’t supposed to say thank you,” the new boy whispered to Hinata._

_“Oh! I mean, arrrrr! I got yer treasure!”_

_The woman stifled a laugh as the other two kids laughed at Hinata._

_“Arr mum! I have joined the pirates!” the boy told his mother, “And I wish to sail the seven seas with them.”_

_“Go on! You will be missed, my darling!”_

_The three roamed around the neighborhood until they reached the nearby park. In the middle of building a sand castle, a ball hit Kageyama’s head causing him to turn around and eye the ball that landed in the sand box._

_The third kid gasped and pointed at it. “A volleyball!”_

_“A what?” Hinata questioned._

_“A volleyball! Do you know how to play it? It’s fun! I can teach you,” the kid’s eyes golden eyes were sparkling with excitement which piqued Hinata and Kageyama’s interest._

_“Okay!”_

_The three kids played for hours with the other kids who owned the volleyball, the third kid teaching the other two how to spike and set and block. Later that day, the three decided to go rest at Kageyama’s place and play some video games while they ate the third kid’s mom’s brownies._

_“These are good!”_

_“I know! My mom’s the best at baking,” the third child boasted._

_“Oh! My name’s Hinata Shoyou, by the way and this is my best friend, Kageyama Tobio,” Hinata introduced as he smiled sheepishly at the new kid with messy black hair and peculiar golden eyes._

_“Cool! I’m Tetsurou! Kuroo Tetsurou.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, sorry. 
> 
> I said I'm sorry! 
> 
> I stopped because I was getting really sleepy and I don't really wanna half-ass the volleyball bit because I've been imagining it since chapter 2 and I just asdfghjkl.
> 
> I'm just gonna go sleep and then I'll work on part 2.
> 
> The next chapter won't be taking too long I promise!
> 
> This time for real xD
> 
> I have so much planned for this story asdfghjkl I'm so excited to write it butttt, yeah, the match. The important match.
> 
> See ya!


	11. Sarcasm and Volleyball Pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never played in an official volleyball match nor have I written one. I relied heavily on episode 4 (the three-on-three match between the first years plus Daichi and Tanaka) so mistakes are to be expected. I did study the basic rules and all those stuff plus my accumulated knowledge from watching Haikyuu a thousand times in the past few months. 
> 
> Anywho, enjoy!

### Chapter 10 Pt. 2

#### Sarcasm and Volleyball

 _A tall, tall wall looms in front of me_.

The sound of rubber scraping against the shiny wooden floor of the gymnasium and the distant yells of encouragement from the players off-court were all Hinata could hear as he stared at the 2-meter tall net in front of him for the first time in years.

_What’s the view on the other side?_

Hinata’s gaze shifted to the side as he watched the ball bouncing up and down, the sound all-too familiar.

“Is that… Hinata Shoyou..?!”

“No way! He looks so different!”

“He knows how to play?”

“Yeah right. As if that _loser_ could actually play. He’s probably doing that to gain attention.”

Hinata clenched his fists as he turned his head and watched his three opponents finish warming up on the other side of the court.

Hinata felt like throwing up. He felt an overwhelming mixture of anxiety, panic, and nervousness. He frowned as he ruminatively thought things over. Should he do this? He was on the court now. But the game hadn’t started yet. He could still back out, right? The small ginger let out a shaky breath and turned towards Sugawara.

He felt a pang of guilt in his chest. His best friend looked so, _so_ excited. He couldn’t just take this away from Sugawara now, could he? Hinata visibly swallowed, his eyes darting around the audience and trying his very best to ignore their painfully judgmental stares.

He thought about all those years he played with his best friends, trained with different people and practiced on different surfaces the ball could bounce on. He _knew_ volleyball. It was a big part of his childhood, after all. So why was he so nervous? Why was he so _afraid_?

Was it because of all the hate and doubt that seemed to come off in waves from the people around him? Was it because he was scared to let his two best friends down? Was it because of the potential embarrassment he could go through if he failed?

Was it because people only saw him as… Hinata Shoyou?

That’s right, he was Hinata Shoyou, the loser. So why was he doing this?

_“Just think about it, Sho. You could express yourself on the court when you couldn’t with words. You seriously can’t let them bully you anymore.”_

He thought back on his silver-haired best friend’s words the night before. Hinata hated to admit it but Sugawara was… right. Hinata never had the confidence to speak to people. He feared his opinions wouldn’t matter, his words would fall on deaf ears and his voice, unheard. But when he was on the court, he was… himself.

_“They do that because they think they see a… powerless… the defenseless person they can push around.”_

Maybe…

He glanced to his left and saw a particular blond observing the scene quietly. Hinata met his eyes and received a typical small smile from the blond, one that was meant only for Hinata to see. Hinata shot him a nervous lopsided smile in return before looking forward again.

Maybe… it was time to show them who Hinata Shoyou really was.

He couldn’t dominate hallways and classrooms simply because he felt out of place, lost. Now that he was on the court, reliving the familiar thrill of feeling the ball hit his hand and slam into the other side of the court, he felt… at home. The place was different but the feeling was familiar. He never played in official games but he did join countless neighborhood games. Sure it usually lacked the essential players needed in volleyball, but he knew enough.

He was in his element.

 _The view from the other side_ …

Sugawara stepped beside him and smiled warmly. Hinata turned towards Kageyama on the opposite side of him and faced a similar but smaller version of Sugawara’s smile. It made Kageyama’s face look weird but it was the thought that counts.

Hey, Kageyama was smiling for once. Hinata was definitely _not_ complaining.

Hinata still couldn’t help being nervous. He was playing in front of all those people for the first time. What if he fucked up? That would be really embarrassing.

 _Really_ embarrassing.

They bowed to each other like in those anime they watched just for the heck of it and proceeded to their designated places. Kageyama and Hinata stood side by side with Sugawara behind them.

The toss coin fell in their opponents’ favor so they got to serve first.

Hinata gazed at the tall teens in front of him.

“Let’s have a nice game, yeah?” Bokuto grinned down at him from the front line, golden eyes glinting with excitement.

Hinata nodded with a smile.

_I really hope so…_

Beside the owl-haired boy was Akaashi with his usual blank face and behind them was…

“Nice serve, Dadchi!”

 _The boss man_.

Daichi dribbled the ball once.

He tossed it high in the air.

_Bam!_

The ball was sent flying towards Hinata’s side of the court but Sugawara was quick to react, receiving the ball flawlessly and sending it soaring back into the air.

Kageyama’s eyes chased for it and with amazing accuracy, tossed the ball towards Hinata.

_Oh sparkling pile of shit._

Hinata jumped but realized he was too early and his jump was too low and weak as he missed the ball by a beat, sending it bouncing on their side of the court.

Goddammit.

“See? Someone as short as him couldn’t possibly excel in volleyball.”

“Psh, what a loser.”

A loud laugh resonated from the audience, earning a nasty look from Oikawa which shut them right up.

Hinata looked down, jaw clenched. It wasn’t always perfect the first time, right? Right.

He tried to ignore the fact that he had probably already spiked thousands of tosses from Kageyama and focused back on the game.

Dammit.

***

_18-10_

Hinata’s trio was falling behind by eight points. That wasn’t good.

What was happening to them? Most of their points were errors by the other team and they only ever managed to land the ball on the opposite side of the court a few times and also when the others failed to receive properly, leading the ball out of boundaries.

Bokuto’s serve sailed wide and landed directly on the opposing side of the court in a service ace, once again collecting a point for their trio and closing in on the end of the game with a prominent chance of victory hanging over their heads.

Tsukishima peered at Hinata, noting his obvious tension. Kageyama said he was good at volleyball so what was wrong with him? Tsukishima frowned as he heard another series of insults unambiguously thrown around followed by a snicker.

Tsukishima scoffed. Of course.

With all these assholes around, who wouldn’t be nervous? Especially if it’s someone like Hinata, who barely had any confidence in him. The tall blond sometimes found it endearing but at some it was annoying. Hinata was an amazing person but he often chose to hide that.

But then again, selfish as he was (Tsukishima chuckled loudly at that), he felt kind of… special. He was one of the few people Hinata chose to show his real side to and that made a weird feeling churn in his stomach. Ugh, that was so gay.

Wait, he _was_ gay.

Absolutely, totally, completely, definitely gay for—

Tsukishima’s raging thoughts were cut off by Kageyama suddenly hitting the back of Hinata’s head quite forcefully.

What the fuck? Tsukishima almost stood in protest but he calmed himself down. This was Hinata’s best friend. Hinata seemed to trust Kageyama with all he had. The ravenette better have a good reason for hitting Hinata.

“Oh shit…” Tsukishima heard Sugawara curse.

“Oi Dumbass!” The raven’s harsh voice echoed around the sudden quietness of the gym, “Snap out of it, will you?”

Hinata stared at Kageyama with wide shocked eyes. “K..Kageyama…”

“You’ve been out of it throughout the entire game. Stop trying to play for others. Play for _yourself_ , dammit. Think back, Hinata. Why do you play? Why do you love volleyball? Remember why it was so fun sneaking out at fucking dawn to have the court all to ourselves years ago. Remember how we started playing volleyball after being dumbasses around the neighborhood. Just stop _thinking_ and just play! Like you always do!”

“Dude, Kageyama’s kind of scary…” Kuroo said to Iwaizumi.  

Hinata stared at Kageyama, dumbfounded then looked at his visibly shaking hands.

Kageyama turned away from Hinata and faced their opponents who were blinking confusedly at them.

“Give us our Little Giant back…” Kageyama added, this time softer than his previous outburst.

Tsukishima watched Hinata’s shoulders heave up and down before taking a deep breath and looked up, a new look of determination lacing his amber eyes.

“That’s right,” Hinata muttered, more to himself, “A fight for the summit.”

 

 

 

_A tall, tall wall looms in front of me._

Bokuto dribbled the ball once.

_What’s the view on the other side?_

He tossed it high in the air.

_Bam!_

The ball whirled through the air, zooming past the front lines towards Sugawara. Flawless as ever, the silverhead received the ball, this time with a huge grin on his face.

“Kageyama!”

The ravenette raised his arms, eyeing the ball with pure concentration. The object landed on his fingers for a fraction of a second and, with impeccable accuracy and almost inhuman speed, sent it rocketing for Hinata.

The ginger bent his knees, his arms behind him as he channeled his strength to his legs.

Then jumped.

The whistle pressed between Tanaka’s lips dropped to his chest as he stared wide-eyed at the ginger in complete disbelief.

Everyone had the same reaction—eyes wide as saucers in utter shock and mouth slightly agape as they stared at the little spiker.

Maybe except for Oikawa who choked on his drink and was now trying to get air back to the right windpipe.

Hinata Shoyou.

 _Hinata Shoyou_.

The bullied kid with glasses who never fought back. The kid everyone called names and laughed at. The kid who sat alone every lunch in the library for years. The kid who was always beaten up.

The kid who now dared to fly in the court of air battles.

It wasn’t an unfamiliar sight but Hinata’s sheer beauty always enthralled his two best friends every time he was in the air.

His movement and his stance were precise and perfect. He was the embodiment of earthly divinity with his sparkling pools of amber orbs, clear skin glistening with beads of sweat and those tuft of bright orange curls that seemed to glow midair.

And now everybody got to see it.

Tsukishima stared at Hinata as he swung his hand and sent the ball ricocheting across the court, zooming past Bokuto and hit the wooden floor with a loud bam.

Silence filled the air for a solid three seconds before the crowd let out a huge cheer, the team being the loudest of them all.

 “What…just happened?” Bokuto asked out loud, eyes wide and unfocused.

“Holy shit!” Kuroo yelled in amazement, standing up and staring at the place where the ball landed as if an alien just jerked off there, “You guys do quicks?!?! That was fucking awesome!”

Hinata beamed at Kageyama, raising his hands in an attempt for a high five, “Kageyama!”

Kageyama smirked proudly at Hinata and thought, screw it, then raised his own hands for a high five.

Sugawara shook his head, smiling. “The Freak Duo’s at it again.”

Tsukishima still couldn’t believe Hinata just did _that_. His gaze turned towards Kageyama. He never knew the guy could set! And with so much precision too!

_21-20_

One more point and Hinata’s trio would catch up to Daichi’s team.

“Watch the blockers…” Akaashi muttered lowly to Bokuto, “Quick! Hinata is on the move!”

Bokuto and Akaashi quickly dashed to where Hinata was running to and prepared to jump to block his spike when Kageyama made a move to toss. They were sure they were going to block the killer quick when Hinata made a sharp turn to his left and jumped to spike Kageyama’s toss.

The crowd once again erupted into a series of yells and cheers as both teams garnered equal points.

“He’s quick too! And damn, Kageyama’s tosses are so fast like how does he even aim it so perfectly? And Suga’s read blocking like a boss they can’t even get a dump in! Wohoah!” Kuroo whooped, clapping obnoxiously loudly.

Hinata panted but kept the adorable grin on his face as he wiped his arm across his forehead.

_I may be small, but I can jump!_

 

***

The loud whistle shot through the air, signaling the end of the game, with the captain’s trio claiming the game as victors. The match ended with a service ace from Bokuto that gained them a scoring of 28-25.

“Good job out there,” Daichi congratulated the three new members, shaking each of their hands.

“Welcome to the team.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted it to be detailed but not too detailed.
> 
> I hope it was good xD
> 
> It's not really that long since it's basically a continuation of chapter 10 soooo yeah.
> 
> See ya!


	12. After the Match

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just going to drop this hereee.
> 
> I'm _horrible_ , I know. I just got back from a trip with my family and cousins and aunts and uncles (basically it was a big trip) and the internet there was utter shit. 
> 
> Point is, I haven't updated in WEEKS. 
> 
> SO
> 
> I'll try my best to make up for it.
> 
> I think this chapter is a bit messy. I mean the long-awaited match is done and I'm planning the next _thing_ but WHAT DO YOU PUT IN BETWEEN. So I made this and a couple more chapters to--
> 
> You know what just read it XD Go on.
> 
> Enjoy!

### Chapter Eleven

#### After the Match

Hinata let out a tired sigh as he leaned back against the wall, shoulders sagging. It had been a long day for the little ginger and he was emotionally tired as he was physically. He tilted his head back and stared at the blue sky above him filled with lazily floating clouds.

He heard the door open and shut which caused him to turn his head towards it, trying his best to fight off a smile.

“Hey,” he greeted somewhat casually to the newcomer.

Tsukishima settled himself next to him quietly. The silence stretched on for a few minutes as both males stared at the sky wordlessly.

It wasn’t awkward, really. Tsukishima’s presence beside him was oddly… _right_. Like he was meant to be there. And that surprised Hinata since they didn’t really hang out much. Now that Hinata thought about it, they had never even intentionally hung out yet.

“I’m proud of you,” Tsukishima blurted out.

Heat rushed to Hinata’s cheeks as he looked down, mindlessly tracing along the protruding lines of his phone.

What was he supposed to say in response? How do people respond to that? Should he say thank you or?

“R..Really?” Hinata stuttered out weakly.

Yeah, that was pathetic. Good job, Hinata Shoyou.

“Yeah,” Tsukishima responded, “I didn’t know you could play.”

“Well,” Hinata started, looking at the scenery beyond the steel constraints, “There are a lot things you don’t know about me.”

And that was true. They barely even knew each other.

All Hinata got in response was silence but he didn’t mind. They could hear the distant chatter of students as they fled to their homes after an agonizingly long day of school and teenage drama. Hinata heard the tall blond next to him let out a sigh before speaking up.

“I’m Tsukishima Kei. My birthday is on the 27th of September. I’m 188 cm tall.”

Hinata stared at Tsukishima slightly wide-eyed. Was he serious right now?

Yes, apparently he was.

“I have an older brother named Akiteru and as you already know… I kind of like… dinosaurs. I swear to Styx, Shorty, if you tell a single soul about that I will kill you myself,” Tsukishima threatened with a dark glare. Hinata was unfazed by those piercing eyes though and chuckled in amusement.

“Yeah alright, Tsukishima. I won’t tell a single soul about your undying love for dinosaurs,” the little ginger jested just to tease the other. Tsukishima rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

“I didn’t say ‘undying love.’ I just said I liked them,” he muttered grumpily.

“Whatever you say, _Tsukki_ ,” Hinata responded with a grin.

Tsukishima grumbled inaudible things under his breath as he turned his head away from the teasing ginger. Hinata definitely didn’t miss the dark red color dusting his pale cheeks.

Hinata heard Yamaguchi call Tsukishima by that nickname before. It honestly sounded really adorable. Now that he thought about it, why did Yamaguchi call him that? Were they close? He remembered noticing them being comfortable around each other so maybe they were pretty close.

_How close?_

Shut up, Hinata.

“I’m sorry. Was that a personal thing between you and Yamaguchi?”

“It’s okay. And no, it’s just Yamaguchi being annoying,” Tsukishima replied, now looking at Hinata from the corner of his eyes as he gazed forward.

Hinata wanted to ask him about his relationship with Yamaguchi. He was just curious, that’s all!

Yep, totally just mere curiosity.

“You and Yamaguchi…”Hinata started cautiously, “You two seem close.”

Tsukishima looked down at Hinata with a smirk.

“Is that jealously I hear?”

“Pfft, no.”

The light pink tinting his cheeks totally betrayed Hinata’s previous denial.

“Whatever you say, _Sho_ ,” Tsukishima teased back.

“Oh?” Hinata rose an eyebrow with the tiniest smirk on his lips, “We’re on first name basis now?”

“You can call me Kei anytime, Sunshine,” Tsukishima’s undeniably arid tone didn’t go unnoticed to the little ginger, ridiculous levels of sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Hinata snorted.

“Shut up, Dinoman.”

Tsukishima sighed dramatically. “Don’t call me that.”

“What’s wrong with _Dinoman_?” Hinata teased even more.

“Hinata?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

Hinata bit his lip to hide his grin. It was just really fun to tease someone like Tsukishima. The blond let out another sigh as he adjusted his glasses and crossed his arms.

“Yamaguchi and I grew up together. He was that kid who just couldn’t stop following me around and decided to become my damn shadow. It was absolutely annoying at first but…” Tsukishima trailed off with a distant look in his eyes.

“But you learned to like his presence, awwww. I knew you were all soft and fluffy inside,” Hinata cooed, poking Tsukishima’s side.

The blond tried to swat away the annoying finger and scoffed. “More like _tolerate._ ”

Hinata couldn’t help but wonder what the two of them had gone through. Tsukishima’s amber eyes dulled into an ochre when he trailed off, as if drowning in his own thoughts for a moment.

“Well, my turn then,” Hinata took a deep breath, “My name is Hinata Shoyou and, well, I transferred here four years ago from Trost. But you already know that.”

Tsukishima rolled his eyes at Hinata. “Obviously.”

The ginger stuck his tongue out at the sarcastic male before continuing his late introduction.

“Um… I… have a younger sister. Her name is… Natsu. Oh and the twins, Hikaru and Kaoru, whom you’ve already met. They’re my… half brothers. We share the same dad. My stepmom makes killer soufflé, by the way.”

“And your real mom?” Tsukishima inquired.

The smile faded from Hinata’s lips as he looked down and stared at his lap. He still wasn’t sure if he was ready to talk about her.

 _Four years_.

Wow, time flew by so fast, didn’t it?

“My m..mom…”

Hinata’s voice cracked as a picture of his mother’s face flashed in his mind, an overwhelming mix of longing, sadness and nostalgia washing over him. He missed her. Gods, he missed her so freaking much.

Before he knew it, Tsukishima pulled him into a tight hug, fingers comfortingly carding through his bright orange hair.

“She’s somewhere far… really far…”

“Your best friends. It seems like there’s some kind of weird threesome going on between you three,” Tsukishima spoke out dryly, trying to change the subject and shift the mood back.

The two separated from their hug as Hinata let out a chuckle. Tsukishima kept close to Hinata and wrapped an arm around the little ginger, making some heat rise to the latter’s cheeks.

Hinata didn’t mind it. Not at all.

“Oh, totally. You can join us some time, if you want,” Hinata shot back, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Tsukishima let out that stupid attractive smirk of his and leaned in Hinata’s ear. “No thanks. I’d rather have you all to myself,” the taller whispered hotly.

Hinata’s face flushed and felt his heart rate speed up as he shoved Tsukishima’s face away. “Fuck off.”

He totally saw that coming. He knew Tsukishima would drop something like that. Of course he would. He was _Tsukishima._ And by the gods, he hated how it affected him. It only showed how much power that stupid telephone pole had over him.

This earned him a chuckle from said blond as the latter flicked the ginger’s forehead with his other hand.

Hinata glared at Tsukishima as he rubbed his probably reddening forehead.

“You’re so abusive. Why do I even stick with you? Damn Tsukishima…” Hinata muttered as he slightly elbowed Tsukishima.

Tsukishima rolled his eyes. “You’re so dramatic. Damn Shorty.”

“ _Dinoman_.”

“Stop calling me that.”

Hinata smirked, a challenging glint in his honey browns.

“Make me.”

With a growl, low in his throat, Tsukishima threaded his fingers through Hinata’s unruly sunshine locks and grabbed a fistful all while tilting the ginger’s head back, gaining full access to those supple and inviting lips and surprising Hinata.

It wasn’t the usual gentleness with an underlying hint of domination Tsukishima usually offered Hinata. It was something unknowingly disparate, yet distinctive. Something dangerous but strangely addictive. Something that forced a spark within Hinata and sent a low buzz of electricity throughout his body.

It was as if the kiss itself was conveying some sort of message that couldn’t be expressed through words.

_Please._

_Let me do this._

_I need you._

_Please don’t leave._

It wasn’t a challenge. It wasn’t domineering. It was desperation. It was as if their previous argument had been long since forgotten the moment their lips made contact.

Hinata’s hands travelled from Tsukishima’s broad shoulders to his firm chest where he could feel the other’s hammering heart going at three hundred miles per hour. Hinata’s own wasn’t any different. He could almost hear the blood rushing past his ears, his cheeks felt hot to touch, and his body felt warm and cold at the same time.

Tsukishima nibbled on Hinata’s lower lip before pulling away with a smallest sigh of contentment, catching his breath.

The taller male drank in the sight of Hinata panting, lips swollen and eyes hooded and clouded in daze before pressing his forehead against the ginger’s, making the latter’s eyes flutter close.

 _Damn that was hot_.

Hinata couldn’t believe that just happened. Wow.

“That was so cliché though,” Hinata was the first to break the silence, letting out a small grin, “Classic Tsukishima.”

“You had to break the mood, don’t you?” Tsukishima retorted as he moved his head away and flicked Hinata’s forehead. Again.

“Ow. Like I said, _abusive_ ,” Hinata whined with a glare at Tsukishima’s direction.

“What were we talking about again?” Hinata wondered as he ran a hand through his hair, trying to smooth out the messy locks.

Futile attempt.

“Having a fancy foursome with me and your best friends,” Tsukishima replied flatly.

This time it was Hinata’s turn to roll his eyes. Why did people keep on rolling their eyes today?

 

***

“Alright, spill. I want to know everything that happened after you excused yourself after the game and went to run off into the sunset with your man,” Sugawara said as he shoved a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.

“Well, we talked,” Hinata replied, taking a cookie from Kageyama’s plate, “Don’t you guys have your own houses? Seriously. More than half of my closet is already filled with your clothes and Kageyama’s big ass bear already claimed my bed as his territory.”

“One,” Sugawara raised one finger and gave Hinata a pointed look, “That _big ass bear_ has a name. We agreed on Colossus, remember? And second, you were gone for four years. Don’t complain if your poor ol’ best friends just wanna have a sleep over. And third, I don’t think you just ‘talked.’ You’re TsukiHina. You don’t just ‘talk.’”

Hinata furrowed his eyebrows.

“Tsukihina? When in Hades did you come up with that?” Hinata asked.

“Well, we ship,” Sugawara responded with a casual shrug.

“You just threatened poor Tsukishima this morning,” Hinata reminded, pointing his second cookie at the silverhead.

“Yeah but that doesn’t mean we don’t ship. We ship,” Sugawara said wisely, nodding at his words, “Don’t we Kags?”

Kageyama responded with a serious and firm nod with cookie crumbs littering his lips.

Hinata shook his head at his best friends. “You guys are ridiculous. I love you, but.. _ridiculous_.”

Hinata dusted off his pajama pants and climbed into his bed. He was physically drained and what he desperately needed right now was a nice, long slumber. Plus they had to wake up early to make it to morning practice. Hinata was excited and anxious at the same time. It was his first practice with the team, after all. What would they think of him? Would they treat him and his best friends as equally as the others?

“I’m going to sleep. Don’t stay up too late or you’ll all be hell to wake up tomorrow. I swear I’m going to leave your lazy asses. Morning practice at 6. Night,” Hinata said hurriedly and let out a huge yawn.

“Good night, Sho!”

“Hn.”

Hinata was surprised how the two dorks still had the energy to stay up. Oh well. More bed space for him to occupy then.

“Wait!” Sugawara suddenly exclaimed.

Great. Couldn’t a growing teenage boy get a little rest?

“Hhwhatt..?” Hinata slurred and threw a pillow at Sugawara’s direction.

“You still haven’t told us about that thing after you dashed away to gods know where after the match!” Sugawara whined as he shook Hinata’s shoulder to which the ginger tried to swat the silverhead’s hands away.

“Ugh. Go away…” He grumbled and buried his face in a pillow.

He loved his best friends, he really did. But sometimes he just wanted to throw them off a bridge while cackling incessantly at their ultimate demise.

“You know what you need?” Hinata’s voice dropped an octave due to his obvious exhaustion as he raised his head, gazing at Sugawara with tired hooded eyes, and pointed a lazy finger at his best friend.

“A damn boyfriend.”

Kageyama grunted in agreement, an amused smirk gracing his handsome features.

Sugawara scoffed incredulously at his two best friends, the look of utter betrayal painted all over his face. “I’m not gay!”

Hinata rolled and lied on his back, arms crossed under his head as he rolled his eyes at Sugawara. Yeah, right. Sugawara was practically wearing a huge sign in red, bold letters saying he was interested in guys.

That was how Hinata saw him at least.

“Of course you aren’t Suga,” Hinata remarked.

“Remember that kid with olive green hair who visited Trost with his father?” Kageyama piped in, a sickeningly innocent look on his face, “I thought you said he was attractive.”

“I was thirteen!”

“That doesn’t really matter Suga,” Hinata disagreed, hugging Colossus to his chest.

Kageyama let out another grunt of agreement, nodding his head once. “If you like milk then, you’d still like milk now.”

Sugawara facepalmed at Kageyama’s analogy before sighing and crossing his arms in utter defeat. “Fine! Still, I don’t need a boyfriend. I already have you two,” Sugawara responded with a grumpy pout.

“As sweet as that sounds,” Hinata spoke up, lips curved up in a small smirk, “It’s kind of different Suga. You can’t just ask us to do the dirty with you whenever you feel frisky. That’s just weird.”

Sugawara made a face and shoved a pillow at Hinata’s face. “Oh my gods, Hinata.”

The ginger laughed as he tried to pry off the humongous pillow that was currently trying to suck the life out of him.

“Why not?” Kageyama inquired, eyebrows furrowed and voice laced with innocence.

Oh, Kageyama.

“I’ve seen both of your dic—“ Kageyama’s further statement was cut off by Sugawara tackling him to the floor.

“Okay!” Sugawara exclaimed, pinching Kageyama’s cheeks quite harshly.

“Ow.”

As kids, it didn’t really matter if they saw each other naked. They just wanted to play superheroes in the shower. And they did it countless times. Hey, they were best friends _and_ they were all boys. Nothing wrong with that, right? It sounded pretty awesome back then but it didn’t seem as appealing now, apparently.

Sugawara was about to strangle Kageyama (lovingly, of course) but a look of realization suddenly crossed his features as he looked up at Hinata and gave him a shit eating grin.

Whatever the silverhead was about to say, it wasn’t going to be good. Hinata just knew it.

“Wasn’t that guy, the one with olive brown hair and pretty brown eyes, Hinata’s—“

Hinata’s eyes widened and this time, it was his turn to cut Sugawara off by hurling the gigantic stuffed bear known as Colossus at the grinning Sugawara.

“I think it’s time we _all_ go to bed, yeah? Okay. Good night,” Hinata hastily said and scurried into a comfortable position on the bed, pulling up the sheets over him.

Sugawara wasn’t about to bring that up. Oh gods. Oh _gods_.

Hinata’s cheeks heated up at the memory. The latter cursed as he slapped his cheeks lightly at his own reaction. No way. He just wanted to forget that mortifying memory and just _go to sleep_.

Yeah, sleep sounded absolutely pleasant.

A boy with with dark olive green hair and pretty brown eyes flashed into his memory, making him groan audibly and thrash around.

“I hate you,” he glared over at Sugawara who was dragging Colossus back to Hinata’s king-sized bed and dropped himself next to the grumpy ginger.

“Hey! It was an important day for the three of us. Our wittle sunshine finally a man,” Sugawara cooed as he made a move to pinch Hinata’s cheeks just to antagonize him.

Before Hinata could make a probably sarcastic remark, Kageyama flopped himself between the two arguing teens and climbed under the covers. “Good night.”

“Kageyama you little shit. I’m supposed to be the one in the middle,” Sugawara complained, trying to scooch the ravenette who was already starting to doze off. Typical Kageyama.

“Not tonight, apparently,” Hinata said as he stuck his tongue out at Sugawara and grabbed his stuffed wolf.

Hinata gazed at the blue-eyed teen in front of him and brought his hand up to touch one of his reddened cheeks.

“You pinched his cheeks too hard, Suga,” Hinata pointed out softly as he ran a thumb over his best friend’s abused skin.

Sugawara leaned on his elbow to look at what Hinata was referring to and sighed, mostly to himself. Yeah, he really was too harsh on the usually quiet teen. The silverhead leaned over and planted a soft kiss on the ravenette’s cheek. “I’m sorry,” Sugawara muttered against his skin, patting Hinata’s cheek before finally lying down on the bed.

“Night Sho.”

“Night.”

 

***

“Friday!!” Oikawa’s loud, cheerful voice reverberated around the halls of the school. It wasn’t unusual for the beaming brunet to be _so fucking loud_ in the morning so the other students who bothered to go to school at six freakin’ o’clock in the morning completely ignored him. Wise decision.

“Kou-chan!” the said brunet bounded over to Sugawara who was talking to Hinata about something with a serious face.

Tsukishima was slowly advancing behind the three, eyes raking over a certain ginger. The white shirt that said ‘FRIDAY’, blue skinny jeans and his now untamed bright orange hair still didn’t fail to surprise Tsukishima over how different the smaller teen looked compared to how he usually dressed before.

“Woah! Kei-chan! You’re here early wow,” Oikawa said as he patted Tsukishima on the arm.

“Well if Tendou actually worked on his assigned part, we wouldn’t have to rush here at such an ungodly hour to finish our Chemistry project,” Tsukishima replied flatly before turning to Hinata. “Hey.”

“Hi,” Hinata smiled softly at Tsukishima.

“Please don’t make out in front of us,” a voice sounded in front of them.

Kuroo grinned at the three in all his messy bedhead glory.

“Good morning,” Oikawa greeted Kuroo with a smile. The golden-eyed teen returned the smile before turning to the erm… couple?

“The sexual tension between you two is almost palpable, seriously,” Kuroo pointed out with an amused smirk.

Hinata spluttered while the tall blond rolled his eyes at Kuroo. “Fuck off, Kuroo. Go back to your boyfriend or something,” Tsukishima countered.

Kuroo only gave Tsukishima a cheeky grin. “At least I have a _boyfriend_ to go back to. How’s _your_ love life, Tsukki?” the feline-eyed teen jested, that annoying grin still plastered on his equally annoying face.

Little shit. Tsukishima had a love life. It was just… messy at the moment.

The blond sighed exasperatedly and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Please stop calling me that,” Tsukishima grunted.

“What, _Tsukki?_ ” Kuroo teased even more and laughed loudly at Tsukishima’s irritated reaction.

“It’s a cute nickname,” Oikawa chimed in, grinning at Tsukishima.

Idiots. The lot of them. He honestly had poor judgement in choosing friends. What did he do in his past life to deserve this?

“You know what,” Tsukishima started as he grabbed Hinata’s arm, drawing out a small cry of protest from the small ginger, “We’re out of here.”

“Practice in 15 minutes, Shrimpy-chan!” Oikawa reminded as Tsukishima half-dragged a mumbling ginger towards a random direction; anywhere just to put a distance between them and the idiots.

They wandered to the stairs leading to the second floor. The area was still devoid of people, much to Tsukishima’s relief. He really didn’t want to deal with people at the moment. He just wanted to spend what little time he had with Hinata.

The blond settled himself on the bench next to the staircase and gazed up at Hinata who had his arms crossed, looking down at Tsukishima with those honey brown eyes of his.

“You’re so salty,” Hinata blurted out, a small, amused smile playing on his lips.

Lips Tsukishima wanted so badly to claim at this moment.

Gods, he should really stop being a total creeper.

Tsukishima wrapped his arms around Hinata’s waist and pulled the small ginger in between his long legs, where he belonged. Psh, obviously.

Tsukishima suddenly felt a clench in his chest, a strong sense of longing washing over him as he gazed at Hinata’s form in front of him. What the hell was he doing? He knew he was in for a lot of pain when this all ended, when reality would hit him right in the face. So, why? Everything was already planned and came into finality, and terms were already set. He was ready, he always had been.

But…

He sighed as Hinata unwound his crossed arms and tentatively raised his arm to card his fingers through Tsukishima’s blond locks.

But he decided to just fuck it all because Hinata was right there, not even showing the smallest bit of resistance, and accepted what Tsukishima was giving him. Maybe, Tsukishima thought, just maybe he still had a chance. But he was running out of time. Should he still go for it?

Hinata looked down at him and gave him a small smile as he took Tsukishima’s glasses with his unoccupied hand.

Fuck there was no turning back, was there?

“You somehow give off a different aura with your glasses off,” Hinata spoke softly, voice laced with amusement, “Like a cold, mysterious rich boy.”

Tsukishima shook his head, lips curved up into a small smirk as he buried his face in Hinata’s shirt.

“Tsukishima…” Hinata started, sounding way more serious than before. Tsukishima braced himself for whatever the ginger was about to say or ask.

He heard Hinata let out a sigh and the small movement Tsukishima felt indicated that the ginger just shook his head. “Never mind.”

Tsukishima tilted his head up to look at the smaller teen. “No, talk to me. What is it?” he prompted.

Hinata shook his head again and ran his fingers through the blond’s hair. “Later,” Hinata responded.

Tsukishima was about to say something when he felt his phone trill in his pocket. He was really tempted to ignore whoever was bothering him but he remembered why he came to school early and pulled out his phone, forehead leaning against Hinata’s torso.

**[Tendou]**

_I’m headed for the lab where r u?_

Tsukishima heaved a deep, miserable sigh.

“Wow, you seem so happy you’re practically giving off heavenly light,” Hinata remarked sarcastically.

“It’s Tendou,” Tsukishima replied, pocketing his phone, “He’s here.”

“Well you should probably go then,” Hinata spoke but his action said otherwise when he still continued weaving his fingers through Tsukishima’s soft hair.

Tsukishima didn’t want to. It was so warm and comfortable he wanted to flip off anyone who dared to disturb them.

But, ugh, Chemistry project.

Reluctantly, he let go of Hinata and stood up after the ginger took a step back.

“Get to practice Shorty. You really don’t want to be late for your first one,” Tsukishima said as he nodded his head towards the direction of the gym.

Hinata’s eyes widened as he glanced at the nearest wall clock and handed Tsukishima’s glasses back. “Right.”

Before Hinata made a move to dash towards the gym, Tsukishima grabbed his shoulders and planted a soft, lingering kiss on the ginger’s forehead causing heat to rise to Hinata’s cheeks.

“Good luck. See you later,” the blond murmured against Hinata’s forehead. Hinata shot him a smile before making a beeline towards the direction of his team.

Tsukishima watched Hinata’s retreating figure, eyes soft compared to his usual bored and blank ones.

“ _I fucking like you, Hinata Shoyou_.” He muttered into the quietness of the place.

“I always have.”

***

 

Hinata panted and took huge gulps of water. He just finished practicing his serves and spikes with Kageyama. He was having a lot of fun and his new teammates were amazing people. Tanaka and Noya were absolutely hilarious and Daichi would always chastise them for being _too_ rowdy and almost hitting one of the managers in the face with a volleyball. Oikawa was complaining loudly the entire time for not being permitted to play volleyball, or even practice his tosses, because of his injury. Kuroo and Bokuto were the idiot duo who always spouted nonsensical things. But they were really talented at volleyball. The only normal people in the team, except for Daichi, were probably Akaashi, Semi and Iwaizumi.

Hinata wondered how Daichi managed to stay sane while looking after his team. They were absolutely crazy.

“I bring new uniforms!” the other manager, Kaori, called out, holding a box in her arms.

“Jersey number 10, Hinata,” Kaori held up a black and orange jersey and shorts.

Hinata accepted the uniform, staring at it in complete awe. He finally belonged to a team. He felt a little overwhelmed. _He finally belonged to a team_.

“Jersey number 11, Sugawara.”

“Jersey number 9, Kageyama.”

Hinata held up the uniform in his hands, eyes sparkling. It was so beautiful. It was perfection. Amazing.

“Hey guys!” Tanaka suddenly hollered, one hand on his hip, causing all heads to turn towards him.

“To formally welcome the new members of our team of awesome—“

“Not to mention fabulous—“ Oikawa inserted.

“—members, our dear captain, Sawamura Daichi, will be hosting a sleepover tonight!”

A series of cheers were heard throughout the gym followed by an obnoxious hoot from a certain peculiar eyed loud male.

Daichi eyed Tanaka, puzzled, and pointed at himself. “I am?”

“You are!” Tanaka laughed and patted the brunet captain’s shoulder once.

“Oh, oh!” Bokuto spoke up, waving his arm obnoxiously at Oikawa. “Invite the Boyfriends!”

Oikawa tilted his head to the side in question. “The Boyfriends?”

“The _Boyfriends_!” Bokuto reiterated, making weird hand gestures to emphasize his point.

The Boyfriends? Who the hell were they? A band?

A look of recognition crossed Oikawa’s features as he grinned and nodded his head. “The Boyfriends.”

“Alright!” Coach Ukai interrupted the exchange as he pointed his clipboard towards the team’s general direction.

“Hinata, Sugawara and Kageyama, we’re glad to have you on the team. From now on, you will be fighting on the same side of the court with these guys. On that note, as you guys already know, we will be having a practice match with Epsilon Academy on Monday. That’s right, you three will be having your first official match with the team against the best school in our region. Other than our new birds, you guys have already fought them before but expect them to be even better. Plus…”

The air suddenly got heavier and a dark aura loomed above them as Coach Ukai settled with an ominous face.

“I heard they acquired a new member from abroad who became ace in a short amount of time,” the coach supplied, “He’s tall, smart, excels at blocking, and has killer spikes and serves, definitely a volleyball prodigy.”

“Do you know who he is, coach?” Iwaizumi asked, eyebrows pulled into a frown.

Ukai shook his head. “No, not really. All I heard was that he was a terrifying opponent.”

“Well we’ve got new, equally terrifying opponents for them to face as well! _And_ a trump card,” Bokuto declared, chest puffed out in a dramatically proud stance, “They’ll never know what hit ‘em.”

“That’s right. It may be a practice match but it’s the battle of men! And we, Recon Core High Volleyball Team, we never give up!” Nishinoya shouted enthusiastically.

A chorus of loud responses followed and a couple of fist pumps.

Hinata grinned as he observed the people he now called his teammates, allies on the court who would always have his back. This was it. He felt a little pressured by Bokuto’s previous statement, but it was all the more reason for him to want to play. The familiar thrill and anticipation got him a crazy mixture of anxiety, fear and excitement. He wouldn’t want to let the others down who had already started to believe in him.

 He was going to fight.

 

 

 

**_RIINGGGGGGG_ **

The sharp, ringing of the bell interrupted the class before students started to pile out of classrooms and made their way towards the cafeteria.

“Hinata, this is really important. Trust me, it is,” Sugawara stated, brows pulled downwards into a frown. Kageyama glanced at Sugawara curiously.

The silverhead looked completely serious, which scared Hinata a little bit. Sugawara was hardly ever serious about anything. Whatever he had to say, it had to be something significantly life-changing.

“Suga I… Can we talk about this later?” Hinata asked, sending Sugawara a small, unsure smile. The silverhead stared at Hinata for a couple of seconds before nodding and went to order his food.

“Alright, where’s Tendou?” Bokuto asked out loud, head turning towards multiple directions to spot a certain redhead.

Now that the owl-head mentioned it, Hinata couldn’t help but notice his mortal enemy’s absence. Said redhead hadn’t bothered Hinata for a while and, as much as he liked it, it felt a little… weird for Tendou to just stop. Oh, he definitely wasn’t complaining but Hinata just couldn’t help but wonder. Did something happen? Was it because of the volleyball team?

If anything, Hinata thought, Tendou should feel kind of indignant right? Hinata did after all took his spot in the team. _Hinata_ of all people.

But Tendou did quit in the first place so he had no right to be mad?

Why did he quit in the first place anyway?

Should Hinata really be putting too much thought into this?

Hinata inwardly sighed. He was putting too much thought into this.

Hinata watched as Tsukishima shot Bokuto a deadly glare when the latter made a mistake of trying to steal the tall blond’s headphones.

Rule number one in dealing with Tsukishima Kei: Only he could use his headphones. That thing was his kryptonite.

“Only for a few minutes!” Bokuto pleaded, eyes set into the best puppy eye look he could muster.

“No,” Tsukishima blatant tone of disagreement didn’t go unheard to the others, causing Hinata to let out a snort.

“Pleaseeee.”

“No, Bokuto.”

Bokuto crossed his arms stubbornly and turned to Hinata. “Your boyfriend sucks.”

Hinata blinked. “We’re not… He’s not my boyfriend?”

Hinata caught Tsukishima’s scrutinizing gaze at him.

Kuroo scoffed before shoving some fries in his mouth. “Mhmm, whatever you say.”

Hinata shook his head and proceeded to eat his food. He wanted to talk to Tsukishima about that this morning but they had limited time and Hinata didn’t really want to rush such conversation. What were they? What was he to Tsukishima? What was Tsukishima to him? It was all so confusing. He could only hope it would all get resolved during their talk later.

 

 

Unbeknownst to Hinata, that wasn’t the only conflict that he would want to resolve.

 

 

 

 

_Sugawara covered his mouth, eyes widened in complete shock as he pressed himself further against the wall and tried to stay hidden in the shadows. He just wanted a glass of water. Not this._

_Not_ this _._

_The silverhead heard Hinata’s dad sigh in frustration. “He’s still too young. He has enough things to deal with at the moment.”_

_“I know he’s turning eighteen in a couple of months. But still…”_

_“I know I made a deal with you. Can’t you just choose one of the twins instead? Shoyou he’s… He’s not really interested in any of this.”_

_Hinata’s dad let out another sigh, this time it sounded like defeat._

_“Okay, okay. I understand.”_

_“What?! That’s too soon! Give the boy time to process all this!”_

_“Alright, that’s good enough. Can’t my son at least meet who he’s going to be tied to?”_

_“Fine.”_

_“I still can’t believe you’re pushing this engagement. They’re too young.”_

_“Alright. Goodbye.”_

_Sugawara heard a phone slam on the counter, the sound too loud in the quietness of the night, followed by a deep sigh of defeat and exasperation._

_“I’m sorry, Shoyou. I’m so, so sorry…”_

_What. The. Fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, that just happened. Woah. 
> 
> The plot needs to advance and stuff so I figured, hey, it's time. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you guys for reading and I will see all you dudes laterrrrrasdfghjk


	13. Nursery Rhymes, Horror Stories and Truth or Dare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> . . .
> 
> I'm just... going to... yeah. 
> 
> Enjoy the chapter xD
> 
> I ALMOST FORGOT OMG
> 
>  
> 
> **Warning:**
> 
>  
> 
> **If you don't like reading scary stuff, you can skip it. This ///////// marks the start and the end of the scary bits. It's nothing _too_ scary actually. Some creepypasta here and there. The dorks just wanted some fun and apparently, sharing horror stories is their idea of fun. But if you're not too keen on reading those, it's okay if you skip them :D**

### Chapter Thirteen

#### Nursery Rhymes, Horror Stories and Truth or Dare

Hinata walked into his room feeling strangely happy.

Okay, that was kind of an understatement.

More like, _elated_.

The talk with Tsukishima went surprisingly well. Hinata honestly expected the tall blond to close off his barriers again and put up that bored, blank façade Hinata knew all too well. It was as if another layer had been peeled off the blond’s seemingly impenetrable mask and Hinata could almost actually see the real Tsukishima underneath it.

And clearly, it surprised Hinata.

 

_Silence fell over the two males as they stared at the bluish sky beyond them. They were so close, so close, that their shoulders were almost touching but that small space between them seemed too big a barrier, like an unspoken and mutual separation neither could cross._

_‘To hell with it,’ Hinata thought as he let out a soft sigh._

_“Tsukishima,” his voice was soft, cautious and careful as if walking on eggshells. He really didn’t want to mess this up. “What are we?”_

_Three words. Three simple words. But it seemed to have struck Tsukishima like an arrow as Hinata notice him still for a moment, quite possibly ruminating over his answer._

_What were they? What was Hinata to Tsukishima? What did Tsukishima think he was to Hinata?_

_Tsukishima’s voice came out steady, a definite contrast to the swirl of nerves and anxiety inside Hinata. “What do you want us to be?”_

_Did Hinata want to make the decision?_

_‘What do you want us to be?’_

_What did it mean? Was Tsukishima okay with being with Hinata? Was he okay with all this? Did he not mind what Hinata might choose for an answer?_

_Or was he just scared he might hurt Hinata’s feelings by leaving the choice to him?_

_Hinata could respond with anything._

_He was not emotionally ready for this, dammit. Sure, leave the final choice for Hinata to make, easy. It wasn’t like he ever doubted himself and what other people thought about him, right?_

_Okay, maybe he was approaching this the wrong way. But then again, what knowledge did he have? It wasn’t like he was the most desirable person in the world._

_Ugh, teenage drama._

_“I… I think…”_

_This was it. It was now or never._

_Hinata fumbled with his phone—a habit he had recently noticed—nervously and avoided Tsukishima’s piercing gaze. He found it a little difficult to breathe as if every air was caught in his throat before it could reach his lungs._

_“I think you should stop being confusing and actually decide if you want to be around me or not. You should decide if you want to ignore me completely or stick around. You can’t play with people’s emotions, Tsukishima. So just… decide…” his voice faded to a dull mutter as he lowered his head like he would usually do whenever he wanted to hide from the world._

_“You are… a very nice person.”_

_Hinata’s right eye twitched. Of course. Typical Tsukishima._

_“Believe it or not,” Tsukishima started as Hinata tilted his head up to look at the blond. “I’m new to all this. So I’m going to make this right and go back to the start,” Tsukishima gazed back at Hinata as he caught one of the ginger’s hand and enveloped it with his own, eyes glinting with that unfamiliar look Hinata kept on seeing in certain instances, “You don’t mind Merry-Go-Rounds and roller coaster rides, right?”_

_Hinata’s wide eyes snapped to the tall blond beside him, noting his subtle doubt and nervousness for a few passing seconds. “Are you asking me out on a date?”_

_“No Hinata, I’m asking you to help me murder people in an amusement park and hide their bodies,” Tsukishima deadpanned._

_Hinata punched the blond on the arm and rolled his eyes._

_“Ouch,” Again came Tsukishima’s flat response._

_“You know, you’re the most un-romantic person I know. You could’ve just dropped the sarcasm for a few more minutes,” Hinata stated, crossing his arms, as he looked at Tsukishima with a frown, but the amusement in his honey-browns was more prominent._

_“So is that a yes?” Tsukishima asked, eyes still boring into Hinata._

_“When did I ever say no to you, Tsukishima Kei?” Hinata asked, lips quirking up a little in a small amused smirk._

_The blond opened his mouth—probably to deny the ginger’s words—but Hinata held a hand up._

_“Yeah, no. Don’t answer that.”_

With a small bounce in his step, he bounded over to the bathroom and decided to take a nice, long shower. His best friends actually decided to pack separately in their own houses, enveloping the entire space with peace and silence. It wasn’t that he didn’t like having his best friends around—and the silence that came with their absence was honestly weird since he had so gotten used to the racket and constant noise his best friends always made—sometimes Hinata just didn’t find waking up in the middle of the night to find two teenage guys _loudly_ whispering and silently laughing to themselves all that amusing.

They were actually going to Daichi’s for a sleepover. _A sleepover_. At someone else’s house other than his two best friends. _An actual sleepover_. With real, actual people their age.

When Hinata asked his father for permission, he almost immediately agreed after interrogating Hinata about safety and all those stuff. It was obvious that his dad was happy that his son was finally interacting with other human beings other than two certain dorks. Hinata’s stepmom was delighted as well and even volunteered to bake cookies for the team.

Hinata said she didn’t have to. But she _insisted_.

Well, there was no stopping her.

Hinata zipped his small backpack after shoving his stuffed wolf inside. When he reached the main entrance, the twins were there bouncing like little balls of energy and ran towards Hinata.

“Take us with you!”

“Yeah!”

“Twins, leave your brother alone, will you?” The twins’ mother and Hinata’s stepmother came up behind them holding a rectangular plastic container that held lots of chocolate chip cookies.

“Petra, you really didn’t have to,” Hinata took the container after the older blonde female handed it to Hinata, smiling warmly at the young boy.

“Well, I _want_ to. It’s your first official sleepover!” Petra gushed excitedly as she ushered the twins back inside when they made a move to follow Hinata outside the door where a black car was already waiting for him. Hinata laughed as they whined and stomped away grumpily.

“Thank you,” Hinata smiled shyly at the woman.

When Hinata arrived at his father’s mansion, he was so irrationally scared he actually considered running away and live in a box. His father remarried, he knew that. He also knew his father had two sons with his new wife—twins, he heard. He felt unwelcome, out of place. He expected a hostile and selfish stepmother who had no choice but deal with her new husband’s past and two brothers that would make it their mission to make Hinata’s life a living hell.

Boy, was he wrong.

And he felt a little guilty for assuming and judging them too quickly without even knowing them.

Petra was an angel. She welcomed Hinata with a gentle hug the very moment he stepped foot inside his father’s mansion. She treated Hinata as she would treat the twins—like a real son. She fussed over him whenever she could and supported him completely. She would scold him like a mother would do whenever Hinata did something realistically stupid and took care of him whenever he got sick. All these things she did, how she treated Hinata, made the ginger miss his mom even more.

_‘You don’t have to worry mom,’ he would sometimes say while looking at the night sky glittering with stars. ‘They’re taking good care of me.’_

Then, the twins. The twins were precious, mischievous little fluffs that they are.

Hinata loved them.

They were tiny two-year-olds when Hinata met them. He often looked after them when Petra and Hinata’s dad were away. Since then, Hinata took it upon himself to protect them and be the best big brother he could be.

His memory supplied him with a flash of unruly orange hair, much like his own, face blank and overshadowed with pallor as she rested on a white hospital bed surrounded by wires and machines.

_Natsu_.

Hinata pushed the image away and smiled back at Petra who was in the middle telling him what to do and what not to do during a sleepover if you don’t want to make the biggest fool out of yourself and become permanently cursed.

“…And most importantly have fun,” she finished as she placed one hand on his shoulder while the other ruffled his orange locks.

“Alright, alright,” Hinata chuckled as he tried to swat her hand away and fix his hopelessly hostile hair.

Again, futile attempt.

Hinata looked around and noticed that his father suddenly disappeared.

“Where’s dad?” the ginger asked Petra.

“A friend of his is stopping by for a visit so your dad wanted to personally welcome him at the airport. Oh and the asked if they could stay here if we didn’t mind, which we don’t. Sorry, I forgot to tell you,” Petra shot Hinata a sheepish smile. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Oh no, not at all,” Hinata responded, shaking his head. “I gotta go.”

“See you, Shoyou!”

“Bye nii-chan!”

“Take us with you!”

Hinata laughed and waved back at the twins as he made his way towards the car.

He was looking forward to whatever a sleepover, with more than ten, painfully hyperactive and childish guys, could lead to.

***

 

A few minutes after ringing the doorbell, the door opened and revealed a boy with spiky red hair and crimson eyes whose eyebrow immediately shot up the moment he saw the silverhead, mirroring the latter’s own raised brow.

“What are you doing here?” Sugawara questioned, adjusting the backpack strap on his shoulder.

“Can’t I be here?” Tendou shot back and leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

“This party is allergic to assholes,” Sugawara responded sharply.

Tendou’s quirked brow went up further.

“Why are you here, then?” the redhead countered, “Last time I checked, you’re not the one hosting the sleepover so you have no say as to who goes and who doesn’t.”

“Last time I checked,” Sugawara’s brown eyes narrowed into slits. “This is a celebratory party for the team from which _you_ just quit.”

Tendou’s casual pose turned into a hostile stance as he stood straightly and glared darkly at Sugawara. “Shut the fuck up, you don’t know anything. And besides, do you think you’d be here if I didn’t quit the team?”

“Wow,” Sugawara deadpanned, voice flat. “Should I thank you or what?”

“I think you just shut your damn mouth, newbie because whatever bullshit you’re showing my friends, I ain’t buying it.”

“Do you think I give a single flying fuck?” Sugawara snapped, glaring back at the rude redhead. “Who are you to me, anyway? That’s right, _no one_. So get out of my way or so help me—“

“What, you’ll beat the shit out of me? That’s what you’re good at, right? Stepping on people you don’t approve of? Go ahead, Sugawara. Go ahead, and let’s see how that would turn out,” Tendou countered, sneering at the now seething silver-haired teen.

What the fuck did he just say?

Sugawara chuckled but it didn’t hold the usual amusement, no. What Tendou said was utterly ridiculous and absolutely _hypocritical_. He grit his teeth and suddenly grabbed the redhead by the collar.

Tendou was tall, Sugawara noticed. Taller than him.

“That’s rich, coming from you who basically ‘beat the shit’ out of my best friend ever since he transferred here and made his life a living hell. So tell me Tendou, how are you any different from me, huh? Do I beat innocent people for fun? Do I make them feel like complete shit? Do I make fun of them for who they are?” Sugawara leaned in, looking directly at Tendou’s burning crimson eyes, “Oh that’s right. That’s what you do, isn’t it? Huh, Tendou?”

Tendou stared back at Sugawara, jaw set.

“Let me go,” he said lowly.

With one last sharp look, Sugawara reluctantly let go of the redhead and pushed him aside without uttering another word.  

 

 

As he made his way to the living room, the silverhead missed the miserable look in Tendou’s eyes, head bowed and lips quivering, as he desperately tried to hide it before taking a deep, shaky breath and jogged after Sugawara.

 

 

 

The team cheered as Daichi brought out his older sister’s guitar with a skeptical look.

“My sister is going to kill me,” He said ruefully, shaking his head.

“Don’t worry, captain! We’ll take care of it,” Tanaka exclaimed as he took the brown acoustic guitar from Daichi’s safe hands and strummed it with a… C that looked like a G?

Sugawara wasn’t really a pro at guitar but he knows his chords and he was pretty sure that wasn’t a chord. Not anything anyone knows, at least.

“Do you even know how to play the guitar, Tanaka?” Iwaizumi said, furrowing his eyebrows.

“He doesn’t,” Tsukishima inserted with his signature bored look.

“Oh lighten up, you two. Gimme it,” Oikawa said and made grabby hands at the guitar.

“For everyone’s sake and for the whole world, do _not_ hand the guitar to Oikawa,” Iwaizumi asserted, pulling Oikawa down by the back of his collar, making the adorable brunet fall on his butt.

According to Nishinoya, Daichi’s parents were on a trip in Dublin and his older sister was sleeping over at her boyfriend’s place so, fortunately for them, they pretty much have the entire house all to themselves.

Lucky.

“Oh come on!” Oikawa whined and shot Iwaizumi a betrayed look, “I know how to play. I’ve been practicing Iwa-chan!”

Iwaizumi sighed hopelessly at his best friend while Tanaka handed the guitar to Oikawa before shooting him a thumbs up.

Oikawa positioned the guitar, set his fingers to the right chord and strummed.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Iwaizumi deadpanned and facepalmed.

Sugawara stifled a laugh when Nishinoya stood up and fist pumped.

“Yeah! This is my jam!”

Before he knew it, Sugawara was singing along with the team.

“TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR, HOW I WONDER WHAT YOU ARE,

UP ABOVE THE WORLD SO HIGH, LIKE A DIAMOND IN THE SKY.

TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR, HOW I WONDER WHAT YOU ARE.”

The entire team belted out the lyrics to the song like madmen and laughed loudly after they finished it.

“BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP HAVE YOU ANY WOOL? YES SIR, YES SIR, THREE BAGS FULL.

ONE FOR THE MASTER, ONE FOR THE DAME AND ONE FOR THE LITTLE BOY WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE.

BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP HAVE YOU ANY WOOL? YES SIR, YES SIR, THREE BAGS FULL.”

“Oh! I have another one!” Nishinoya spoke up, face red from laughing at the silliness of it all.

Then they were at it again.

“UP TO THE CEILING, DOWN TO THE FLOOR, LEFT TO THE WINDOW, RIGHT TO THE DOOR. PAPA LOVES ME, MAMA LOVES ME, COME ALONG AND SING WITH ME. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z, NOW I KNOW MY ABC NEXT TIME I WANT YOU TO SING WITH ME!!”

If someone told him a year ago Sugawara would be sitting cross-legged on the floor in someone else’s house in the middle of the night singing nursery songs, he would laugh blatantly at their face and sass them away for being ridiculous. But here he was now, doing the exact same thing and having fun with his new friends and team mates.

The only person missing was…

“Where’s Hinata?” Kageyama asked as he scooted closer to Sugawara.

“I was wondering the same thing, myself.”

Sugawara saw Kageyama pull his phone out and texted Hinata.

A few seconds later, the duo heard the familiar _ding_ of Kageyama’s phone and read the message from their ginger.

**[Dumbass Shoyou]**

  _Got held up by someone. I’ll be there._

The team stopped singing nursery rhymes off-key when thunder rumbled outside and they heard the pitter-pat of the rain on the windows.

“How about,” Nishinoya suggested, wiggling his eyebrows with a wicked grin on his face, “Horror stories.”

“Good idea!” Bokuto cackled, clapping his hands obnoxiously in agreement, then followed by a series of approval.

Horror stories seemed like a good idea to Sugawara, what with the mood and all.

“Absolutely not,” Tendou disagreed, crossing his arms.

‘Why not?” Kuroo frowned at the redhead, obviously not amused by his disapproval.

“Chickening out, huh, Gorilla Face?” Sugawara taunted with a smirk.

What? He couldn’t resist. Teasing Tendou was really fun.

A light shade of pink dusted Tendou’s cheeks before he turned his head to the side to hide it, arms still crossed defiantly. “Whatever.”

The others laughed before letting out a small sound of surprise when the lights suddenly went out, the lamppost from outside the only thing illuminating the entire space of the living room by creeping through the thinly curtained glass windows.

“Tanaka, what the hell?” Tsukishima spoke out loud for the first time since they came.

“What? We need to set the mood,” he responded and randomly pulled out a flashlight.

Sugawara didn’t even want to know where he got it or how he got it.

Tanaka turned the object on and placed it on the floor.

All of them formed a circle around the flashlight, some hugging pillows to themselves.

“Anyone wants to start?” Daichi asked, looking around.

“Oh! I’ve got one,” Nishinoya spoke up, raising his hand.

**//////////**

“Okay, so there was this babysitter. Let’s call her—“

“Siri! Let’s call her Siri,” Oikawa butted in.

“Alright. A couple hired Siri to watch their five-year old daughter while they go on a date since it was their 7th anniversary. Siri and the kid were in the living room, watching TV, when the child complained about wanting to eat more sliced apples. So Siri went to the kitchen and went to find some apples but found none. She remembered the couple telling her that they kept boxes of fruits in the basement so she went down the stairs and looked for apples. Before she went up again to slice them, she caught a glimpse of a pretty red dress outside the small window of the basement but shrugged it off.

After a few minutes, the child wanted cherries this time, so Siri once again descended down the basement when she found nothing of the fruit in the fridge. As she went up the stairs, she saw a flash of the same dress again from the window, red as the cherries, but this time a metallic glint came with it. She shrugged it off again and fed the kid cherries.

Again, the kid asked for grapes and, as she did two times before, she went to the basement and looked for grapes when the fridge had none of it. This time, she didn’t see any grapes. She looked towards the same window and found a small girl, dressed in the same red dress and was holding a knife stained red with blood. Siri’s eyes widened as she backed up the stairs seemingly frozen when the child’s lips slowly turned up into a psychopathic smile.

Then she realized something.

It wasn’t a window.

She turned her head to the left, just in time to see the same child stepping out of the dark.

It was a mirror.”

 

**////////////**

 

Sugawara felt goosebumps all over his skin as a shiver ran up his spine. Okay, that was a little creepy.

Sugawara couldn’t help but sneak a glance toward Tendou and almost laughed when he found him hugging a pillow tightly, as if his life depended on it, and stared slightly wide-eyed at Nishinoya with a pale face.

Ha! So the mighty Tendou had a weakness and scary stories of all things.

Silence filled the room as the guys started to feel tense.

“I’ve got another one,” Oikawa said in a low voice.

 

**///////////**

“Siri was planning to stay up all night for a test when the doorbell rang at one o’clock in the morning.”

“Holy shit,” Kuroo cursed under his breath.

“Siri heard her father call her name from outside. Siri’s father was out late with her uncle, her father’s brother, who just came from London after seven years. Siri walked out of her bedroom and was about to descend down the stairs when a hand shot out from the old cabinet in the hallway and grabbed her arm. And there, inside the old cabinet was her father, still dressed from his outfit when he hung out with her uncle. “Don’t go there. I heard it too.” Said he.

When her father let go of her arm, she slowly walked back towards her room. But then her mother’s voice called her from her parents’ bedroom. “Siri, get the door will you? It’s your dad.” Confused, Siri turned back to the old cabinet and saw that it was closed again. The doorbell rang again. “Siri!” her dad called. Scared, Siri ran back to her room and jumped into her bed, hiding under the covers.

Then she heard a scream. It was from her mother. Then she heard the doorbell again, frantically rung this time, before a door was opened and slammed shut and she heard her father’s agonized scream. She should’ve opened the door. She should’ve answered her father’s call from outside. She heard her door creak open. A figure, hunched and abnormally tall with spikes protruding from its back, stepped into her room slowly. She closed her eyes immediately and pretended to be asleep. She wanted to scream for help. She wanted to cry. The figure dragged the chair across from her and heard it sit there.

“I know you’re awake.””

 

**///////////**

Oikawa imitated the deep, ominous, husky voice as best as he could at the end of his story.

Silence once again enveloped them as they all stared at nothing and everything, trying to get over the story.

Then the doorbell rang.

Most of them let out manly screams and scattered to hide.

Sugawara might or might not have been one of them.

He crawled behind the couch as fast as he could and looked at the door fearfully.

“Fuck, _fuck_ ,” Bokuto whispered, “he’s coming to get us!...”

“Oh my gods, where’s Shrimpy-chan?!...” Oikawa looked around frantically for the ginger.

“I don’t think Hinata was—“ Akaashi stopped midsentence when the person outside spoke.

“Siri.”

“OH MY GAWDS!....”

“I’m gonna die…”

“It was just a story right?”

“I’m gonna freakin’ die…”

“Surely it wasn’t… real.”

“We’re all gonna die!...”

“Calm down, everyone…”

“You’re all such wimps.”

“Then why are you hiding, Kei-chan?...”

“Bokuto dragged me here…”

“I don’t want you to die, Tsukishima!...”

The boys all watched the door in fear and anticipation.

“Siri,” the voice spoke again.

“It’s pretending to be Hinata!...” Bokuto exclaimed/whispered, eyes wide and scared.

“Is this 189 Colossal Street, Shiganshina District?” the voice spoke again, then paused.

“Hello? Guys? Are you there?” The voice disguised as Hinata called from outside.

“Hinata?” Tsukishima called.

The team simultaneously shushed the blond and glared at him.

“Tsukishima?” Hinata answered.

Tsukishima was about to stand up but Kuroo pulled him down again. “Can’t you see? It’s pretending to be Hinata! Who knows what he had done to our little shrimp!”

“Yeah! Maybe it’s going to go away if we ignore it and pretend we’re not here,” Bokuto suggested seriously.

“Tsukishima already answered, you idiot,” Iwaizumi responded, shaking his head.

“Well let’s just ignore it,” Bokuto insisted.

“I regret my life decisions,” Akaashi spoke, voice flat.

“Look, it’s raining outside and Hinata’s probably drenched and cold so stop being a child and let go of me,” Tsukishima hissed, obviously growing slightly annoyed.

Aww, was he worried about Hinata?

“Prove to us that you’re Hinata Shoyou, monster!” Oikawa demanded, yelling at the door.

“Um… What?” Sugawara heard Hinata ask from outside, puzzled.

As much as he was amused to see the guys argue, Sugawara thought Tsukishima had a point. He pulled out his phone and dialed Hinata’s number.

The familiar sound of Hinata’s ringtone sounded from outside.

“ _What’s going on?_ ”

The same voice as the one from the other side of the line spoke from outside, confirming their safety from a potentially dangerous and unknown entity.

“It’s safe,” Sugawara told the guys.

The others, cautious and doubtful, slowly stood up and approached the door.

All except for Tsukishima who rolled his eyes and rushed towards the entrance before pulling the door open and swiftly draping his jacket around the small ginger, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and ushering him in.

Surely, Hinata was just wearing a thin grey sweater over a white T-shirt and black pajama pants and thank gods, he wasn’t wet. He looked cold though. And he was holding a big plastic container. Are those cookies?

“Shrimpy-chan!” Oikawa dashed for the small spiker and enveloped him in a bear hug, causing Tsukishima to let go of the smaller teen reluctantly. “I thought a monster got to you! I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“What’s… happening?” Hinata inquired, confused more than anything.

“Horror stories,” Iwaizumi said. That seemed to explain everything to Hinata when he returned the hug and patted the brunet on the back awkwardly.

“There, there, Oikawa…san. I’m okay.”

Sugawara watched the scene unfold before him in complete amusement as he grabbed a pack of Doritos and started to munch on them.

“Where did you get those cookies?!” Bokuto exclaimed excitedly and ran towards Tsukishima, who was munching on a cookie, to get some of those sweet delights.

“Oh, my… mom baked them. She said it would be nice to share them with you,” Hinata explained after Oikawa let go of him.

(Tsukishima actually pulled the brunet off of Hinata by the back of his collar)

(Judging by Tsukishima’s expression, Sugawara was going to pretend he didn’t see that)

Sugawara noted how Hinata hesitated before referring to Petra as his ‘mom.’ He didn’t comment on that as well.

Hinata inserted his arms into the sleeves and completely wore Tsukishima jacket, the clothing looking _enormous_ on the petite ginger. Sugawara couldn’t help but walk up to his best friend and pinch his soft cheeks. “Look how adorable you look in your boyfriend’s jacket,” the silver head cooed.

Hinata’s cheeks burned to a satisfying red as he spluttered and swatted Sugawara’s hands away.

Like he said, _adorable_.

“Alright!” Tanaka declared, clasping his hands together. “Now that we’re all here, let’s all get to the thing we’ve all been waiting for.”

“Uh, which is?” Akaashi asked, genuinely oblivious to what this ‘thing’ is.

“The highlight of all sleepovers!” Nishinoya was standing on the couch, legs parted and hands on his hips, in all his white-shirt-jersey-shorts-mismatched-socks glory. “Truth or dare.”

 

***

 

“No.”

“Never.”

“Absolutely!”

Akaashi, Tsukishima, and Bokuto spoke in unison.

“Remember the last time we played Truth or Dare?” Akaashi disagreed, cold, emotionless eyes boring into Bokuto’s very soul.

Bokuto wasn’t fazed of course.

“Yeah! It was fun!” Oikawa laughed, practically bouncing on the couch.

“Kuroo almost lost a finger,” Iwaizumi deadpanned.

The feline-eyed male laughed at the memory and waved Iwaizumi off dismissively.

Well. He seemed to be okay with almost losing a finger.

“Come on!” Bokuto encouraged, “This way, the new members could know us better!”

Hinata noticed how Akaashi gave up on his friends and took all the cookies for himself.

“Daichi!” Bokuto turned to the captain for support who in turn smiled at his team.

“Why not?”

The guys exploded into cheers as Oikawa stuck his tongue out at Iwaizumi, looking smug. Iwaizumi doesn’t seem to appreciate the gesture and lovingly flashed his best friend his middle finger.

“Everyone is required to participate!” Nishinoya announced and sat on the floor the same way he did when they were sharing horror stories.

Soon enough, everyone was settled and formed a big circle in the living room.

“Here are the rules,” Nishinoya stated, a bright smile on his face. “You can only choose truth three consecutive times. Beyond that, you’re going to have to choose dare.”

Alright, fair enough. It wouldn’t be fun if everyone just chose truth every time they were called.

“You’re not all that obliged to do your dare. However, if you do refuse, there will be consequence.” Nishinoya’s lips turned up into that of a Cheshire Cat. “Last time, refusal to do the dare means you get to wear the Mask of Shame for five rounds. This time, we will need this,” Nishinoya held up a transparent glass jar with folded papers in it.

Why did Hinata have a bad feeling about this?

“Inside this jar are the names of every person in this room. You choose one as a punishment and whoever’s name you pick out,” Nishinoya’s Cheshire Cat grin widened, if that was even possible, “You kiss them on the lips for at least one minute.”

_WHAT?_

A series of whoops and complaints resonated around the room after Nishinoya’s statement.

“Ohohoho, nice one, Nishinoya,” Of course Bokuto agreed and if he agreed so would Kuroo.

“I don’t mind that punishment,” Kuroo all but purred, caressing his non-existent beard.

See?

“That’s stupid,” That would be Tsukishima.

“No fucking way,” Tendou disagreed, somehow looking at Sugawara—of all people—in disgust.

Iwaizumi shrugged casually, not seeming to mind one bit. Same with Akaashi, who observed everyone wordlessly, not even reacting to the ‘punishment.’

Hinata didn’t know what to feel about this. It would be weird, kissing other people. He didn’t hate it. That also didn’t mean he would intentionally do it. Well, if the situation called for it, he would.

Hinata’s gaze unconsciously traveled to Tsukishima who had a mildly unimpressed look on his face.

“Come on. That’s only going to happen if you chicken out. You do your dare, you don’t get to kiss anyone. That is, if your dare _isn’t_ going to be involved with kissing anyone. Cuz then you’d still be kissing someone if you refuse that kind of dare,” Nishinoya rambled on thoughtfully.

“Stop being pussies and let’s do this!” Tanaka yelled, fist pumping the air.

Hinata heard Tendou sigh and mutter a low, “Whatever.”

What a ray of sunshine he was.

“Can I start? Please!” Bokuto volunteered, flailing his arms wildly in the air.

“Daichi should start,” Kuroo suggested, looking over at Daichi who looked mildly confused.

“Aww!”

“Why me?” Daichi asked, pointing at himself.

“Yeah, why him?” Bokuto echoed.

“Because you’re the captain?” Oikawa stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Daichi questioned.

“Everything. Now start the game, come on!” Tanaka all but patted Daichi’s shoulder enthusiastically but the captain didn’t seemed bothered by it.

Hinata didn’t know what to feel about Truth or Dare. He was excited and scared at the same time. He could learn a lot of things and probably witness the others do the most stupid and hilarious things. But then who knew what they could come up with? At this point, Hinata wasn’t going to be surprised if they managed to burn the house down by morning.

“Alright, alright.” Daichi looked around the circle and his eyes landed on Bokuto.

“Bokuto, truth or dare?”

“I choose dare,” Bokuto responded boldly.

“I dare you to… slap Iwaizumi on the face,” Daichi said, a sickeningly sweet smile on his face as if he didn’t just tell Bokuto to slap the scariest guy on the team.

Bokuto’s cheerful expression slowly morphed to a horrified one as he gulped and turned towards Iwaizumi who was shooting him a dark smirk, smoldering brown eyes burning on him as if daring him to comply.

Oikawa laughed. “Go on Kou-chan.”

Bokuto stood up and walked towards Iwaizumi. Without a single thought, he swung his arm and hit Iwaizumi on the cheek. Hard.

“Oh shit…” Kuroo muttered, half amused and half scared for his boyfriend.

That looked like it hurt.

The look Iwaizumi gave the peculiar-eyed male afterwards made the latter run back to his boyfriend’s side, grabbing his arm. “Protect me, kitty!”

“Did... you just call him ‘kitty’?” Sugawara questioned, though he looked like he regret asking the question three seconds after it came out of his mouth.

“Yeah,” Bokuto cooed, “It’s our special nickname. I call him that like the good little kitty he is, always doing what his Mas—“

“Alright, Bo! You’ve said enough,” Kuroo cut him off, face burning to a dark shade of red.

Hinata didn’t want to know what they used that nickname for.

The ginger saw Bokuto leaning in Kuroo’s ear and whispering something with a smirk plastered on his face causing his feline eyed boyfriend to blush an even darker shade of red.

Okay…

Hinata _really_ didn’t want to know what they used that nickname for.

“Alright!” Bokuto exclaimed, “For my first victim, I choose you! Sugawara Koushi.”

Judging by Bokuto’s grin, he wouldn’t choose dare if he were Sugawara.

Thank gods Sugawara knew that as well.

“Truth,” the silverhead responded, lips quirked up into a small smirk.

“Chicken,” Tendou inserted.

Sugawara flipped the redhead off before completely ignoring him.

Bokuto pouted and looked around, as if doing so would give him an idea as to what he would ask his new teammate.

“Oh! I’ve got a good one. Have you ever kissed one of your two best friends? If so, which one?” Bokuto asked.

“That’s two questions,” Kuroo chuckled.

“Sshhh! Let them be, Tetsu-chan. I want to hear this,” Oikawa shoved a hand to Kuroo’s face.

Sugawara’s small smirk evolved to a slightly more mischievous one as he rested his elbow on Hinata’s shoulder.

That was what Hinata didn’t like about tall people. He knew he was short, okay? But that didn’t mean they could use him as a damn elbow rest.

“Yes, I have. Both of them, actually.”

Someone wolf-whistled among them.

Hinata blushed and sharply turned to Sugawara. Must he really tell the actual truth?! They were just curious boys who were exploring and figuring out their sexuality. Hinata glanced at Kageyama who seemed unfazed by Sugawara’s confession.

“Really?!” Oikawa asked excitedly, “When? How? Why?!”

“I’m afraid you’ll just have to wait for your turn, Oikawa,” Sugawara was teasing now like the little shit that he was.

“I bet he only kissed his best friends because no else wanted to kiss him. Isn’t that right, old man?” Tendou taunted, crossing his arms.

“I’ll have you know girls chased me back in our old hometown but I rejected them because I thought I was gay,” Sugawara shot back. “I’m sorry if you’re a lost cause, Tendou. You can still wait for your late puberty though.”

Tanaka stifled a laugh by covering his mouth with his fist. Oikawa, on the other hand, didn’t hold it back.

“Wahahahahaha!! Hear that Tendou?”

“You’re so loud, Shittykawa!”

“Alright, your turn Sugawara,” Hinata told the silverhead to avoid further conflict that seemed to have already started sparking between Tendou and him.

“Tendou Satori,” Sugawara gave the redhead a looming gaze, lips stretched up into a taunting smile. “Truth or _dare_?”

Tendou’s eyes narrowed to slits at the silverhead, contemplating whether he should bite the bait or play safe.

“You bastard. _Dare_.”

“Good,” Sugawara chuckled darkly. “I dare you to stay in their basement for five minutes. With the lights off, of course.”

“Woah, calm down Satan,” Kuroo joked.

Tendou visibly gulped, glaring at Sugawara with all he could muster.

Hinata failed to see what was wrong with Sugawara’s dare or why Tendou looked like he was about to shit bricks. Sugawara could make him lick the toilet or kiss Daichi’s dog’s butt but he chose _that_ , of all things.

...Was Tendou afraid of the dark?

Sugawara casually shrugged one shoulder. “You don’t have to do it. You can just choose to do the punishment instead of the dare.”

“I think… you should just choose the punishment, Tendou,” Daichi suggested. For some reason, Daichi looked really… concerned. Daichi was always concerned but that look seemed too _serious_ and way different than his usual looks of concern.

Holy crap, maybe Daichi’s house was haunted and he refused to tell anyone.

Daichi and Tendou stared at each other for several seconds before the redhead let out a sigh of defeat.

“You win this time, old man,” Tendou said begrudgingly.

Sugawara’s eyebrow rose in surprise. Same with the others.

Hinata didn’t think Tendou would turn down the dare. Was he _that_ scared of the dark?

Tendou pulled out a paper from the jar and unfolded it.

Now, Hinata knew how pale Tendou’s face looked when Sugawara told him what his dare was going to be but now…

Tendou looked even paler.

“Who is it? Who is it?” Bokuto jumped at the redhead, trying to catch a glimpse of the name on the paper.

Tendou handed the paper to Nishinoya, a dark look on his face.

Then the short teen cackled incessantly.

“SHIT HAHAHAHAAHAHAHA.”

“Who is it?!” Oikawa asked impatiently.

Nishinoya smirked and showed them the name on the paper.

Oh, the irony.

“Sugawara Koushi.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, truth or dare? xD
> 
> I want to reveal stuff already whoo but I have to be patient and let the story develop so I'll just have to wait sighhhhhh
> 
> Anyways, truth or dare part 2 is coming and so is TsukiHina date (I'm excited for that too yassss) 
> 
> And that thing after the TsukiHina date-- wait. I don't think I've written about it somewhere in the story. Woops? Haha my bad.
> 
> *Jacksepticeye voice* THANK YOU GUYS AND I'LL SEE ALL YOU DUDES, _IN THE NEXT VIDEOOOO!!!!--_
> 
> I mean chapter.


	14. Dares, Cookies and Ships

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Andddddddd, I'm back. 
> 
>  
> 
> _*coughs awkwardly*_
> 
>  
> 
> Go on.

_Nishinoya smirked and showed them the name on the paper._

_Oh, the irony._

_“Sugawara Koushi.”_

 

“No,” Sugawara’s response was immediate, eyes blank and arms crossed defiantly.

Hinata laughed nervously at the scene before him. If Sugawara got mad, he was hard to calm down and judging by Sugawara’s look, the silverhead was slowly getting there. Hinata couldn’t blame him though. He might not (and probably will never) admit it out loud, but Tendou was (at least he had been) (Hinata knew that all too well) a huge jerk. Who would want to kiss a huge jerk?

…

…

…Never mind.

Hinata risked sneaking a glance at a certain blond that invaded his mind and mentally patted himself on the shoulder. Congratulations, Hinata. You kissed a jerk.

What?

Tsukishima had been a jerk. But he’s a real fluff on the inside. It was what invited Hinata to him, after all.

Why was he so comfortable talking about that, anyway?

Hinata hugged Tsukishima’s huge jacket to himself and sighed contentedly. It was really comfortable. Now he understood why girls and small boys would always steal their boyfriend’s clothes. It was _really_ comfortable. Not to mention the scent that lingered on the fabric—familiar and strangely comforting. Not that he would be stealing Tsukishima’s clothes from now on…

“You did give him the dare, Suga,” Kageyama spoke up as he reached out and took a cookie from the container Akaashi was holding.

Sugawara looked at Kageyama in disbelief. “Whose side are you on?”

“Just kiss already, you two!” Tanaka encouraged, looking too eager.

“Yeah! We’ve been waiting for this!” Bokuto laughed, hugging Oikawa’s arm to himself and shaking it like a giddy schoolgirl.

Oikawa laughed with him and nodded at the two. “Go on!”

“I swear you guys set this up…” Tendou muttered grumpily.

Kuroo raised his hands up in defense, looking dramatically offended. “We would never!”

At this point, Akaashi and Kageyama were already sitting side by side, watching everyone silently while sharing the chocolate chip cookies Petra baked.

Sugawara desperately turned to Hinata for support.

Hinata just smiled apologetically and shrugged his shoulders. He had no power over enthusiastic shippers. It was better not to get in their way.

“Think of it as a challenge you need to overcome, Tendou,” Kuroo piped up, ushering the redhead toward Sugawara who didn’t look even the slightest amused.

“Yeah! Face it like a real man!” Oikawa agreed, shooting Tendou a thumbs up.

Iwaizumi snorted. “Funny hearing that from you, Trashykawa.”

“Mean!”

Tendou turned towards Sugawara, crimson eyes burning. He stood up and pointed a finger at the silverhead. “I will kiss you!” he declared.

Sugawara raised his eyebrow at the redhead. “Oh yeah?”

Tendou placed himself in front of Sugawara and glared at him. “Yeah. Kuroo’s right. You’re just an annoying obstacle I need to get over.”

“I didn’t exactly say it like that—“

“Tetsu-chan, ssshhhh!”

Tendou leaned in, smoldering gaze trained on Sugawara’s golden ones. “I challenge you to a face battle,” the redhead said lowly, hands placed on either side of Sugawara’s head on the couch behind him.

Sugawara’s eyes narrowed for a second before he himself leaned in closer until their lips brushed and slightly tilted his head to the side, a small smirk playing on his lips. A look of mild surprise crossed Tendou’s features for a moment before he composed himself and returned a smirk of his own.

“Challenge accepted, asshole,” Sugawara breathed against the other’s lips.

Then their lips fully touched.

Hinata couldn’t help but blush and look away. He knew Sugawara had enough experience in kissing. True to his words, the silverhead did have a swarm of girls chasing after him. To them, he was that perfect prince charming figure that always seemed to entrance woman with his charming smile and sweet, gentle voice.

If only they knew how much of a feisty little vixen Sugawara was behind that image.

During his four-year absence, Hinata’s best friends told him about their adventures back in their old hometown. He found out that Sugawara dated multiple girls before he confirmed that he was, indeed, interested in guys. But the silverhead did fool around a bit. At least, that was how Kageyama worded it. Sugawara denied it afterwards though, saying he didn’t ‘fool around’ but merely exploring for ‘research purposes.’

Hinata heard a series of whoops and wolf whistles causing him to turn back in curiosity.

Sugawara was straddling Tendou’s legs, hands planted firmly on his shoulders and seemed to have already dominated the kiss judging by the other’s reactions.

The ginger felt a presence beside him and turned his head to look at Tsukishima who was observing the scene with mild interest.

“Aren’t you bothered?” Tsukishima’s eyes shifted toward the ginger.

“By what?” Hinata asked, noting how close Tsukishima placed himself next to him.

Oh, he didn’t mind one bit. Tsukishima could sit as close as he wanted.

“Those hands that used to inflict serious pain on you are now firmly gripping your best friend’s hips and not in a negative way, too,” Tsukishima pointed out, fixing the placement of the jacket on Hinata’s right shoulder by pulling it up when it was starting to ride down.

“I… still have mixed feelings about it actually,” Hinata admitted, a small smile plastered on his face. “He’s not… doing what he used to do but it’s really hard to forget it, you know? All those stuff he did and said, it still stings but somehow… he feels slightly different.”

Tsukishima’s hand traveled from Hinata’s shoulder to an orange lock on the side of Hinata’s head.

“I don’t know, Tsukishima. I can’t explain it. He’s just… distant. His presence doesn’t bother me anymore, now that I think about it. It’s as if he isn’t there. Or… the person he used to be isn’t there. I’m making zero sense now, gods,” Hinata ranted.

Tsukishima eyed the ginger fondly, a small rare smile lingering on his lips as he gazed it the smaller teen. “I’m glad…”

Hinata tilted his head to the side a bit in confusion. “What—“

“Alright you two!” Tanaka cackled. “You’ve been at it for three minutes already. Are you sure you still think of it as a punishment?”

“I’m not complaining,” Oikawa sighed dreamily.

(“You can have the last cookie, Kageyama.”)

(“It’s okay, Akaashi. We can split it in half.”)

(“Good idea.”)

Sugawara pulled away and stared at Tendou for a moment, panting and eyes hooded.

“Damn…” Tendou muttered as he stared back at Sugawara with the same dazed expression.

Sugawara then smirked and gave Tendou a pat on the cheek. “I won,” he stated before getting off his straddling position and sat crossed legged on the floor again, looking completely unperturbed.

Tendou seemed to snap out of his stupor and glared daggers at Sugawara before stomping away and planting his butt on his original seat on the floor.

“Kuroo,” Tendou started, still looking a bit bummed about his loss in his ‘face battle’ with Sugawara. “Truth or dare?”

Kuroo smirked and crossed his arms. “Dare.”

“I dare you to lick the toilet.”

The few following truths and dares were just a series of casual questions and idiotic dares meant to embarrass the victim like the classic ‘Do you have a crush on someone?’ or the usual ‘I dare you to dance the Macarena while singing Let It Go.’

It was deep into the game when they got to the ‘good’ part (Bokuto’s words). And by good, Hinata meant ‘oh gods what do I say what do I do oh gods can the ground swallow me whole now’ kind of good.

And right now, Hinata was on the receiving end of it.

“Hinata!” Oikawa beamed, eyes sparkling and barely holding back his excitement. “Truth or dare?”

_Okay, play safe this time, Hinata. Play safe._

The last dare he had received was from Kageyama and it really wasn’t that bad but, looking at Oikawa’s face, something told him that choosing dare was a one way ticket to abject humiliation.

“Truth,” Hinata answered calmly.

Oikawa’s face brightened even further the moment he heard Hinata’s response.

Uh oh.

Now Hinata had made a lot of bad decisions in his life—procrastinating when he knew he had a test in a few hours, confessing to his childhood crush, buying that strawberry shake that actually tasted like cough medicine—and this, oho, _this_ was one of them.

It wasn’t _that_ bad. He just wasn’t looking forward to telling anyone about _that_.

_Why, you ask?_

“What’s the story about your first kiss?”

It was probably the most _ridiculous_ first-kiss story ever.

Sugawara burst out laughing, slapping his leg multiple times while leaning his forehead on Kageyama’s shoulder. Even the ravenette had a small amused smirk on his face.

_Ugh._

“Now I’m _really_ curious,” Nishinoya jested, leaning in to absorb up every juicy information Hinata was about to disclose.

“Something tells me,” Kuroo started, a knowing smirk plastered on his lips, “the person he had his first kiss with isn’t the one we’re all assuming. Am I right, Hinata?”

Hinata’s face flushed slightly, the ginger muttering inaudible things under his breath. Perceptive person, that Kuroo.

Hinata’s gaze unconsciously darted to Tsukishima who had currently had an air of nonchalance but his eyes, that scrutinizing amber gaze of his, held a different emotion Hinata couldn’t quite read.

 _…Isn’t the one we’re all assuming_.

“Go on, tell them Sho,” Sugawara pushed, nudging Hinata’s side with his elbow with a shit-eating grin on his face.

Best friend of the year, that silverhead truly was.

“It was about five years ago, I think. I was twelve back then, a few months before turning thirteen.”

“No! You mean Tsu—mmf!!”

Whatever Bokuto was about to say was muffled by Kuroo’s hand. The feline-eyed male shot Hinata a sheepish grin as he prevented his boyfriend from advancing towards Hinata.

“Go ahead, Hinata,” Kuroo told him.

“My mom gave me this really expensive volleyball as a prize for acing my exams. The three of us—Kageyama, Suga and I—were testing out the ball, spiking and tossing it here and there, when I hit it _too_ hard and sent it towards a nearby car. Just when the ball neared that cursed car, the door opened and whoever came out got hit by the ball. On the face. Hard.”

_“Oh my gods, I am so sorry!” Hinata apologized and bowed to the boy, noting how his nose was already turning red from the hit._

_The boy stared at Hinata with impassive, calculating eyes and held the ball in his hand. “This is yours, right?”_

_“Yeah…” Hinata muttered weakly, eyeing the ball with worry. He was worried for his ball. The car looked expensive so clearly, whoever this guy was, he was rich. He could be a brat for all he knew who wouldn’t hesitate to pop his ball with a nail or worse…_

_Throw it away, never to be seen again._

_The tension was almost palpable, the four of them was enveloped by extremely uncomfortable silence with the scrutinizing brown gaze of the taller boy the only thing that was nailing Hinata on his spot. The boy looked about Hinata’s age but his presence yelled maturity and superiority._

_“What could you offer to take back this ball?” The boy asked—was that curiosity in his eyes?_

_“Um.. we have… brownies?” Hinata offered unsurely._

_The boy nodded curtly. “This ball is worth several brownies?”_

_Hinata’s eyes burned with his will of fire. No, that ball was the fruit of all those sleepless nights studying. No brownies in the world could ever amount to the value of that ball._

_As if sensing Hinata’s distress, the boy stepped closer, close enough to send Hinata’s warning bells ringing around the entire coast of Pixie Hollow._

_He was so dead._

_“We could pay you,” Sugawara added hastily, trying to stop the unknown boy from moving closer to his orange-haired best friend. But the boy ignored him and gazed at Hinata straight in the eye._

_“A memory,” the guy said._

_…_

_…_

_…Huh?_

_Hinata wasn’t a glittery warlock that could throw memories in the form of balls at people._

_Seriously though, a memory? Was he messing with Hinata right now?_

_“Just give him a damn memory Hinata, whatever the heck that is,” Sugawara hissed._

_Hinata frowned as he searched his mind._

_He had to get his ball back. He had to get his ball back. He had to—_

_Hinata suddenly jumped and tried to retrieve his ball from the evil boy’s claws, but the boy crouched down and dribbled the ball, sending it to his other hand._

_Hinata growled in frustration. He had to get his ball back. He had to get his ball back. He had to get his ball back. He had to ge—Aha!_

_If it was a memory he wanted, a memory he would get._

_Without thinking about it further, Hinata pulled the guy down by the collar and planted his lips on the guy’s._

_Kageyama zoomed past them, the precious ball now in his secure hands as Hinata pushed the guy away. “How’s that for a memory?!” Hinata all but yelled at the guy but the latter was unfazed, if not a little shocked by Hinata’s sudden action._

_The boy shook his head, face still devoid of emotion as he turned around and headed for the car. But before he opened the door, he stopped in his tracks and turned his head to the side. “I now see how important that ball is to you,” the guy stated, “I will find you again and when that time comes, I will ask not a fleeting memory from you, but a definite future sealed with a gold band. I’ll see you soon… Hinata Shoyou.”_

“What a creeper!” Nishinoya exclaimed. “He practically told you he’ll search for you _and then_ marry you! And how in all the levels of fuck did he know your name?!”

“The guy’s crazy, man,” Tanaka stated, shaking his head.

“You kissed him, though!” Oikawa pointed out, brown eyes wide, “Was he attractive at least?”

Hinata bit his lower lip to stifle a laugh. “Well, Suga said the guy was bloody gorgeo—“

“Hinata! I told you, I was _thirteen_!”

“He looked decent,” Kageyama confirmed, nodding his head seriously.

“Alright, my turn,” Hinata inserted abruptly, “Nishinoya-sa—“

“Drop the honorifics, will you?” The wild teen laughed.

“Um.. Nishinoya, truth or dare?”

“Dare~” Nishinoya answered, looking way too happy.

“I dare you,” Hinata eyed Sugawara, eyes glinting with mischief, “To draw on Suga’s face with a marker.”

Nishinoya’s lips turned up into an evil grin slowly. “With pleasure.”

Sugawara’s face morphed into a horrified one as he turned to Hinata with a look of utter betrayal to which Hinata responded with a grin and a shrug.

Nishinoya grabbed a sharpie from somewhere and crawled over to where Sugawara was sitting. “Don’t worry. I’ll go easy on you,” Nishinoya assured, pulling the cap off. Sticking his tongue out to the side in concentration, Nishinoya began to scribble things on Sugawara’s forehead. Nishinoya’s head was covering Hinata’s view of his best friend’s forehead so he couldn’t really see the short libero’s masterpiece.

Iwaizumi promptly choked on his coke, eyes slightly wide as he observed Nishinoya’s work.

Okay, what was Nishinoya writing on Sugawara’s forehead?

Hinata was growing more curious by the minute as he craned his neck to see what it was. The ginger heard Kuroo laugh really loudly, followed by Bokuto who was leaning his forehead on his boyfriend’s shoulder.

When Nishinoya finally leaned back to inspect his work, Hinata could see what they were laughing at. There, in big bold letters on Sugawara’s forehead, was a writing that said, ‘This ass belongs to Tendou Satori.’

Hinata let out a snort before covering his mouth to stifle a laugh threatening bubble out of his throat. Oh, Sugawara was going to _hate_ this.

Hinata couldn’t wait to see his reaction.

Sugawara had his arms crossed, raising an eyebrow at Oikawa who was giggling uncontrollably next to Iwaizumi. The silverhead took his phone out and gazed at his reflection on the screen. Everyone watched in silence as his eyes slowly widened before darting toward the libero who was biting his lip, grinning.

“Nishinoya, you absolute _cock_!” Sugawara bellowed, throwing a pillow at the cackling Nishinoya. The latter caught the pillow with ease and grinned at the silverhead.

“I’d tell you I’m sorry, but I’m really not,” Nishinoya laughed. “Looks good on you.”

“I fucking hate you,” Sugawara added, looking blankly at the small teen. “I will kill you in your sleep.”

“Oh, don’t be dramatic, Kou-chan. At least now everyone would know that ass is already taken,” Oikawa interjected, nodding encouragingly at the silverhead.

“This ass doesn’t belong to anybody,” Sugawara huffed, crossing his arms. “I’m a solid top, thank you very much.”

“ _That’s_ what you’re mad about?” Tanaka snorted.

“Well, yeah,” Sugarara replied, eyebrows furrowed. “A simple scribble on the forehead isn’t that big of a deal.”

“Even if it’s Tendou?” Bokuto inserted.

Sugawara scoffed and rolled his eyes. “As if that gorilla could actually dominate me.”

“Is that a challenge?” Tendou spoke up, eyes almost glowing.

“The day I’d let you touch me so freely will be the day hell freezes over,” Sugawara sneered, eyeing Tendou with poorly disguised ire.

“Uh, he just did, like, an hour ago,” Kuroo remarked, smirking smartly at the silverhead. Sugawara shot the feline-eyed male a pointed look. “That didn’t count.”

Hinata’s eyes darted between Sugawara and Tendou in mild interest. The small ginger could actually feel Sugawara’s hate for Tendou coming off in waves. Hinata imagined the two actually getting together for a split second and shook his head. It was something to consider but chances of Sugawara actually falling for that redhead was thin. Same with Tendou.

Hinata felt an arm snaking behind and turned to see Tsukishima conspicuously slinging an arm around Hinata’s shoulders while looking at the scene before him, half interested.

“What are you doing?” Hinata raised an eyebrow at the blond’s sudden action.

“What do you think I’m doing?” Tsukishima remarked, raising his own eyebrow at the ginger as he looked down at him. Tsukishima then sighed and turned back to Sugawara who was still stuck in a relentless banter with the others. “Just… let me hold you like this for a while, will you?”

Hinata’s eyebrows creased as he touched Tsukishima’s leg gently. “What’s wrong, Tsukishima?”

The blond shook his head before burying his face in Hinata’s orange curls. “Nothing…” he mumbled, almost too soft for Hinata to hear. “Nothing.”

Hinata heard a series of whoops and cheers and turned his head just in time to see Oikawa walking over to Kageyama who watched the taller setter with a slight frown. Before the raven could react, the adorable brunet crawled on top of Kageyama and planted his lips on his.

Hinata blinked.

Sugawara was smirking contentedly as he watched the scene, looking utterly ridiculous with those vivid bold writing on his forehead. Oh, well.

Kagemaya didn’t seem to be against it as he carded his fingers through Oikawa’s brown locks, tilting his head to the side. Oikawa was practically straddling Kageyama when Tanaka signaled for them to stop but the bald man’s words fell deaf to their ears as the duo continued to lock their lips together, the sound of their kissing drowned out amid the shouts and hollers of their teammates. Hinata watched in fascination as Kageyama made a show of biting Oikawa’s lower lip.

Kageyama tugged at the brown locks almost too harshly causing the brunet to gasp. Those parted lips gave way for Kageyama’s prodding tongue as he wasted no time entering Oikawa’s mouth. Oikawa let out a low moan as he struggled to keep dominance between them, but Kageyama’s natural aggression was enough for Oikawa to fall into submission to the blue-eyed teen. Kageyama’s other hand dropped to Oikawa’s waist and, in contrast to his harsh tugging on Oikawa’s hair, wrapped his arm gently around the taller teen’s waist, fingers running over the bare skin where his light blue shirt had slightly ridden up.

Hinata gulped. It was no secret that he was liking the sight he was seeing, the fact that his best friend was half of the duo making out on the floor made it only a little weird.

The two finally parted, panting and looking dazed. Well, Oikawa was looking dazed. Kageyama looked as if nothing happened, looking fairly insouciant, but his swollen lips and flushed cheeks gave it all away.

Oikawa put his hands on Kageyama’s shoulders, grabbing the raven’s attention, and looked into his vivid blue orbs. “I ship us,” Oikawa said breathlessly.

Kageyama looked at Oikawa in mild confusion. “What?”

“I ship you and—”

“Alright, that’s enough, Shittykawa,” Iwaizumi grunted and pulled Oikawa by the collar.

“Iwa-chan, no! I was about to ask him something really important!” Oikawa wailed as Iwaizumi dumped him on the floor next to Akaashi.

“You’re going to scare them away with your bullshit,” Iwaizumi chided, pulling at Oikawa’s clothes harshly when the brunet made a move to stand up. “Stay put, you idiot!”

Oikawa huffed petulantly and crossed his arms, pouting.

Wow. His best friends seemed to be on a roll today.

Hinata was vaguely aware of the fingers playing with his hair and paid no mind to it. He was enjoying it actually, but he wasn’t about to admit that out loud. Hinata’s hand travelled toward Tsukishima’s thigh and lightly squeezed it while still looking at Kageyama who was making Tanaka do fifty push ups while he sat on the suffering teen’s back, nonchalantly eating Oreos.

Hinata wondered why Kageyama never seemed to gain weight despite all those sweets he kept on eating every night.

“Tsukishima,” Hinata’s head perked up at the name being called. The male beside him sighed softly and regarded Tanaka with a bored look, his hands dropping to his sides.

“Yes?”

“Oh, don’t look so miserable. Truth or dare?” Tanaka grinned, crossing his arms.

“…Dare,” Tsukishima grunted. Hinata remembered Tsukishima being called three times for the past hour and the blond would always choose truth so he was obliged to pick dare this time.

“Worry not, my friend. You’ll find this dare quite easy,” Tanaka said, waving his hand dismissively. “I dare you to make out with…”

Tanaka paused for dramatics before grinning and gestured at a certain dark-haired male with pretty eyes. “Akaashi.”

“What?”

“What?”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

Tsukishima, Akaashi and Iwaizumi questioned in unison. Iwaizumi glared menacingly at Tanaka.

“Come on, it’s just a dare!” Nishinoya intervened, dropping his feet on Bokuto’s lap while chilling on a mountain of pillows with his hand behind his head. “Don’t be a party pooper, Iwaizumi.”

Hinata looked up at Tsukishima and found contemplation swimming in his eyes. If he didn’t want to kiss Akaashi, he’d have to face the consequences which still involved kissing other people. Akaashi was a better choice than anyone else, to be honest. He could end up kissing Nishinoya, or heck, Iwaizumi as a consequence.

Or maybe Tanaka, or something (that would be a sight to behold).

But then if he did choose to kiss Akaashi, he’d end up being killed by Iwaizumi judging by the tan teen’s possessive reaction.

Tsukishima slightly turned his head toward Hinata, that same, familiar strange look in his eyes Hinata always failed to decipher.

“I refuse,” Tsukishima spoke up, looking back at the others with his typical bored eyes.

“Naww, poop,” Bokuto whined, crossing his arms.

Oikawa grabbed the consequence jar and all but shoved it to Tsukishima. “Your kissing mate awaits, my dear Kei-chan.”

“You could’ve just kissed Akaashi,” Hinata heard Tanaka grumble grumpily while crossing his arms childishly.

“Oh, come off it, Ryuun,” Oikawa said, not taking his eyes off Tsukishima’s hand that was now grabbing a small piece of paper from the jar with a hint of mischief in his brown eyes.

“Why’d you deny the dare?” Hinata asked Tsukishima with a small crease between his brows. “You’d kiss another person as a punishment, anyway.”

Tsukishima adjusted his glasses with his other hand, taking the paper between his index and middle finger and glaring at it as if it was an absolute abomination.

“I’d rather take my chances,” Tsukishima replied, shrugging one shoulder. He looked at the small ginger, honey browns slowly narrowing in slight suspicion. “You’d kiss him if you were in my shoes.” It wasn’t a question.

Hinata turned away, feeling his cheeks heat up in embarrassment. “Well, I’d have no other choice. He’s not exactly… that bad, you know.”

Tsukishima scoffed and rolled his eyes. He opened the paper agonizingly slowly.

“Who is it?” Oikawa asked, apprehension and excitement lacing his voice. “Who?”

Tsukishima’s eyes narrowed into slits at the paper, glaring at it darkly before his eyes darted over toward Hinata. “I’ll show you something even better.”

Hinata’s eyes slightly widened in surprise as Tsukishima all but grabbed the back of Hinata’s head and pressed his lips to the ginger’s. Hinata could feel the taller teen’s mild grip on his hair as the latter worked to move his lips against Hinata’s own. Hinata took no time placing his hand on the blond’s jaw, unconsciously tracing along its prominent lines with the tip of his fingers while his other hand grasped the front of Tsukishima’s shirt.

Hinata’s lips molded with Tsukishima’s, the feeling of it perfectly familiar as heat travelled around Hinata’s body, filling his stomach and chest with that same strange feeling.

The tip of Tsukishima’s tongue pushed between Hinata’s lips to which the ginger happily obliged, parting his lips for the other teen. Hinata almost gasped as he felt Tsukishima’s tongue enter his mouth in slight haste and unmasked passion.

Hinata felt warm shaking fingers caressing his waist under his shirt. Hinata also felt Tsukishima’s glasses lightly pressing on his face but he didn’t mind. It was one of the things that made it _Tsukishima_.

The familiarity of it all, the strange sense of security and warmth and the undeniable fondness that spread in his chest. Hinata _loved_ it. And he wasn’t just talking about the glasses thing anymore. He loved everything that made anything feel like _Tsukishima Kei_.

And right now, as he felt said teen weave his long fingers through Hinata’s hair and lips moving along with his in a heated kiss, he actually didn’t mind admitting it.

Hinata really liked Tsukishima Kei, there was no point denying it.

As Tsukishima pulled away after pressing one final chaste kiss on Hinata’s lips and placing his forehead against the ginger’s, Hinata thought he wouldn’t want it any other way.

"It didn't even say Hinata!" Nishinoya protested as he waved the small piece of paper in front of his face, looking incredulously at Tsukishima.

Tsukishima shrugged, moving away from Hinata and slinging a lazy arm around the ginger's small shoulders. "I refuse to kiss _Akaashi_ as a punishment for rejecting the dare to kiss him," the tall blond simply replied. "I kissed another person, didn't I? That should be punishment enough."

"I doubt you even thought of it as a punishment," Kuroo jested, smirking at Tsukishima.

Hinata sneaked a glance at the bespectacled teen next to him and felt himself smile fondly before leaning in close to his touch.

He could get used to this.

***

 

**_Several hours ago._ **

 

“Where’s dad?” the ginger asked Petra.

“A friend of his is stopping by for a visit so your dad wanted to personally welcome him at the airport. Oh, and they asked if they could stay here if we didn’t mind, which we don’t. Sorry, I forgot to tell you,” Petra shot Hinata a sheepish smile. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Oh no, not at all,” Hinata responded, shaking his head. “I gotta go.”

“See you, Shoyou!”

“Bye nii-chan!”

“Take us with you!”

Hinata laughed and waved back at the twins as he made his way towards the car.

He was looking forward to whatever a sleepover, with more than ten, painfully hyperactive and childish guys, could lead to.

He grabbed for the handle but a pair of glaring headlights growing closer and closer caught his attention.

_Must be dad and his friend._

Hinata opened the door and dumped his things inside before closing the door and faced the silver Rolls-Royce Ghost that was now parking behind Hinata’s ride.

The driver’s door opened to reveal his father who was grinning quite broadly.

Must be a really close friend of his if he personally drove the car _and_ looked that happy after a long day’s work. Hinata’s dad noticed Hinata and waved at him, walking toward his son with that same grin plastered on his face.

“Shoyou! I see you’re already heading off to the Daichi Sawamura’s house,” he stated, putting a gentle hand on the ginger’s shoulder, grin morphing into a concerned look. “Are you sure you don’t want to be accompanied by the guards? I’d feel more reassured if you have at least two men watching over you while you stay overnight at a new person’s house. They’ll be subtle, I promise.”

Hinata smiled gratefully at his father and shook his head. “I told you, I don’t need guards, dad. I’m perfectly fine on my own. Besides,” Hinata began, “Suga and Kageyama will be there.”

Hinata heard another door open and the trunk popping.

Hinata’s dad sighed exaggeratedly. “If that’s what you want,” he trailed off before shaking his head and looked at Hinata with the same grin he had earlier. “Glad I caught you just in time to meet our guests.”

Hinata looked over at the car curiously and found a man standing next to it while exchanging pleasantries with Petra. “That’s Takashi, a dear old friend of mine. I offered them our home to settle in during their stay here. I think it’s better than an overly massive and luxurious hotel room with just him and his son staying there. I hope you don’t mind.”

Hinata shook his head. “I don’t mind them staying here.”

Takashi… Takashi…

Why did the name sound so _familiar_?

Hinata racked his brain for any information or a fleeting memory about Takashi. The man was tall, Hinata noticed. And fit, as if he had been working out every day. But he wasn’t burly. He looked more like a retired athlete with his lean muscles and everything. He had brown hair, brown eyes and tanned skin.

The man was wearing a khaki green button down tucked into a pair of white jeans held by a brown leather belt, and brown tassel loafers. The man’s very aura practically screamed ‘money.’

With a friendly smile, Takashi walked toward Hinata with sophisticated grace.

“Hello, Shoyou. I don’t know if you remember me but we’ve already met five years ago back in Trost,” the man began. He turned his head when he heard the other car door opening and out came a boy who looked a little bit like Takashi.

Hinata stilled, staring wide-eyed at the boy in surprise and disbelief. He still had the same olive green hair and calculating brown eyes.

“Ushi…Ushiwaka…” Hinata stuttered out.

 _Of fucking course_.

Ushijima Takashi was the man Hinata met several times whenever his father brought him to galas five years ago. Hinata couldn’t believe he didn’t remember the man his father mingled with so closely years ago.

And his son…

_I found you, Hinata Shoyou._

_The night is young. There are still lots of places to explore._

_I hope you noticed that I have taken a liking to your company, Shoyou._

_Until we meet again._

His son was someone Hinata knew all too well.

“Oh, so you remember my son but not his old man. I’m quite wounded,’ Takashi chuckled, mirth dancing in his eyes.

Hinata smiled sheepishly at Takashi, eyes darting back to the brown eyed teen and found him walking toward their group.

Ushijima stopped in front of Hinata, lips quirking into a small smile, precious and incredibly rare, as he stared back at the ginger.

“Shoyou," Ushijima's voice was deeper than Hinata remembered but it was still the same smooth, calm and steady voice that uttered Hinata's name way too many times. It was the same voice that once offered a promise—a promise Hinata couldn't forget.

"We meet again," Ushijima said, brown gaze laced with traces of the fondness that had developed years ago.

Ah, fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Dun dun dunnnnn**
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> I'd like to thank all you amazing people for your support and everything. Gods, I suck at these kinds of messages. Um, thank you for your awesome feedback and all those things you say, the stuff you guess about and just, yeah.
> 
> What I mean is, I can practically _feel_ all those stuff you're feeling in your comments as if I were a reader myself, if that even makes sense? Ugh, I'm being weird. Even though this message is awkward af I just want you all to know that reading all your comments made me really happy (even though I rarely respond to most of them, which I apologize for) and they never fail to put a smile on my face knowing that this self-indulgent monstrosity actually entertains people which is a surprise itself. I'm really glad you're all liking it and asdfghjkl. 
> 
> Basically I'm a total sap and reading all those stuff you say just makes me want to sit in a corner and cry tears of fluff. 
> 
> Okay, I'm gonna stop before I embarrass myself more than I already have. 
> 
> Thank you and I'll see y'all in the next chapter.


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